Partha Pratim Roy, former MP and a prominent Trinamul leader who is also a Rajbanshi face of the party in Cooch Behar, has received fresh threats from the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), a banned militant outfit, for opposing its principal demand of a Kamtapur state comprising the entire north Bengal.
Following the latest threats in October-end, Roy’s security will be beefed up.
The KLO, formed by a group of Rajbanshi youths and is led by its self-styled chief Jeevan Singha a.k.a. Tamir Das who hails from Kumargam of Alipurduar district, had issued a threat to Roy in October-end and earlier in July. Many KLO members are now suspected to be in Myanmar and trying to regroup again.
“Recently, the outfit has again threatened Partha Pratim Roy for his stand against the demand of statehood. That is why his security is being planned and his residence will be brought under CCTV camera surveillance,” said an intelligence official.
Roy’s ancestral residence is in Jiranpur on the outskirts of Cooch Behar town where his parents stay. He, however, stays in an apartment in the town.
Roy said he would stick to his stand. “I am not worried about what a militant outfit thinks of it. I am against any further division of Bengal,” he said.
On Thursday, a team of senior police officers visited Roy’s residence to discuss the enhanced security cover, said sources.
From now on, the personnel of the state’s combat force with sophisticated firearms will accompany him.
“CCTV cameras will be installed in and around his apartment, his ancestral home and his in-laws’ place. From now on, two police vehicles comprising armed policemen will run with him round the clock,” said a police officer.
In another development, some members of a welfare society of former KLO militants and linkmen turned up to Roy’s residence on Friday and felicitated him for his initiatives to rehabilitate them.
“It is because of him that many of us have got government jobs. We thanked him for his efforts and assured him that all of us are with him,” said Pranesh Ishore, a former militant and a member of the association.
