District Trinamul leaders of Cooch Behar on Wednesday played purported videos of the February 25 clash, accusing the BJP of the attack.

They added they were ready to send the clips to governor C.V. Ananda Bose who had sternly condemned the alleged attack on the convoy of Union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik.

“If our state leaders permit, we can send the clips to the governor. We will show video clips to people across the district to tell them how the attack was planned by BJP,” said Avijit De Bhowmik, the district Trinamul president.

Last Saturday, Pramanik’s convoy was attacked by suspected Trinamul supporters at Burirhat in Dinhata subdivision of the district after which Trinamul and BJP supporters clashed on the spot.

“The clips show armed goons with faces covered getting down from vehicles in the convoy of Union minister of state Pramanik. The clips clearly show how they aggressively ran towards our supporters and ransacked our party office,” the Trinamul leader added.

Trinamul leaders said on that day, 30-35 party leaders wielded black flags as Pramanik’s convoy passed by.

“There were policemen on the spot. After some time, however, the convoy returned to the same spot and the BJP supporters attacked us without any provocation,” a Trinamul leader said.

Udayan Guha, the north Bengal development minister, alleged that Sukumar Roy, the district BJP president, had tried to snatch sticks from the state police at the spot on February 25.

“We also have information that a police case was registered in Dinhata following an incident of cash loot from a bank in 1995. Among the accused, there is a person whose name and address are similar to the personal details of the district BJP president, who is also the MLA of Cooch Behar North Assembly seat. However, there is no mention of the case in the affidavit that he had filed with the election commission. If both are the same person, then this is a straight concealment of fact,” said Guha.

Roy, however, brushed aside the allegations.

“It is an old case for which the police have submitted its final report to the court,” he said.

The BJP, facing constant accusations from Trinamul after the clash, is trying to consolidate its support base.

On Wednesday, Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP unit president, held a party workers’ meeting in Tufanganj. He also visited the house of a youth leader arrested in connection with the incident.

“We will not let Trinamul succeed in its intentions. Along with the police, they attacked the central minister and our supporters. Now, they are raising baseless charges against us,” Majumdar said.

HC seeks report

Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the state authorities to submit a detailed report on the alleged attack on the convoy of Union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik on February 25.

The division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj also directed the state to cite the steps taken after the incident.

The order was followed by a petition moved by Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in Bengal Assembly, for a CBI probe into the attack.

Adhikari had also demanded that the minister be given security by central paramilitary forces.

Moving the petition, Saumya Majumdar, Adhikari’s counsel, claimed that Trinamul-backed criminals had organised the attack and police “had information” of the attack.

“They (the police) did not take precautionary steps to save the minister. He (the minister) has no faith in the state police and central forces should be called for his security,” Majumdar said.

Ashok Chakraborty, who appeared on behalf of the Centre, said since Pramanik is a central minister paramilitary forces can always be called for his security.

“So the court should not allow the state police to file its report and hand over the investigation to a central agency,” he said.

Appearing for the CBI, advocate Dhiraj Tribedi said: “The CBI is ready to conduct a probe into the issue if the court orders it.”

S.N. Mukherjee, the state’s advocate general, however, opposed it.

“The CISF has already lodged a complaint at Sahebganj police station (in CoochBehar). The police will submit a report on the issue after two days,” said Mukherjee.

After hearing all the sides, the division bench asked the state to file the report within 10 days.