Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has questioned the CBI for not taking into custody Uttam Sardar and Shib Prasad Hazra, who were accused of atrocities on women in Sandeshkhali, and alleged that the Centre was weakening the party by arresting local leaders.

The Trinamul leader went after the central BJP government and the CBI on Wednesday afternoon at a public meeting in Basirhat near Sandeshkhali. It was his first rally near Sandeshkhali since the uprising against Trinamul leaders on the island in North 24-Parganas in the first week of February.

“Those who talk about Nari Samman should answer one thing. Allegations were raised against Uttam Sardar and Shib Prasad Hazra. They were arrested by the state government. But 15 days have passed (since the CBI took over the probe). Why hasn’t the CBI taken them into custody yet? Why has there been no demand by the CBI for the custody of the two yet?” asked Abhishek.

He was addressing the rally on the BSF ground in support of Trinamul’s Basirhat Lok Sabha candidate Haji Nurul Islam. Sandeshkhali is in the Basirhat segment.

“It is only to weaken Trinamul organisationally. BJP’s objective is not the safety of women but to mislead people,” Abhishek said. He claimed that the central agencies and the BJP had become synonymous.

The Diamond Harbour MP said the people would give the BJP a befitting reply in the polls for using central agencies to harass Trinamul leaders.

He further alleged that Opposition parties were only concerned about the arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan, even though allegations of sexual harassment were against Uttam and Shib Prasad.

“Ever since Shahjahan was put behind bars, no other leaders or groups have visited Sandeshkhali. This means the objective was Shahjahan’s arrest,” Abhishek said. He added that Trinamul didn’t shield any leader involved in misconduct and wrongful acts.

“We have zero tolerance for any wrongdoings. Let it be Sheikh Shahjahan or Saradha group chairman Sudipto Sen. They all were arrested by Bengal police and not by any central agency. We have ensured action against our leaders Partha Chatterjee and Jyoti Priya Mallick. But the Opposition is only concerned about politics,” Abhishek said.

“They talk about Nari Samman and the safety of women but haven’t been able to take action against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Women wrestlers had accused him of molestation. Nevertheless, he was awarded plush posts. But when Mamata Banerjee receives complaints, she puts the accused behind bars,” the Diamond Harbour MP said.

Abhishek said former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader B.S Yediyurappa was an accused in a Pocso case but the party had not initiated any action against him.

“Has the ED-CBI taken any action? They took
action against Kuldeep Sengar, the accused in the Unnao case, only after the courts asked it to take action,” he said.