Kolkata, February 23 – Following the circulation of a video purportedly showing a civic volunteer engaging with West Bengal Police beating up a truck driver after he allegedly refused to pay extortion money, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, criticized the state government.
On Monday, LoP Adhikari shared the purported video on his social media account to highlight the incident.
However, IANS could not independently verify the contents of the video and therefore, cannot vouch for its authenticity.
In his social media post, Adhikari criticized the Mamata Banerjee government for what he claimed was "institutional corruption."
"The practice of police collecting money by stopping cars or trucks under the guise of 'nakal' checks in various parts of the state is now considered institutional corruption. If they refuse to pay, a false case is filed, or they are beaten or tortured.
"A group of civic volunteers or home guards carry out this work alongside the police, and they readily resort to beating up drivers. This video provides evidence of this, although they do not have this right legally," LoP Adhikari stated in his post.
The BJP leader further alleged that the incident occurred on February 19 at the Dankuni toll plaza in the Hooghly district.
"The video was taken by an injured truck driver and his assistant near the Dankuni Toll Plaza on February 19, 2026. In the video, you can see how a civic volunteer or home guard is beating the driver with a stick without any reason. If a truck driver breaks the law, there is a possibility of taking legal action against him, but no law in India gives the right to beat him like this," he said.
Adhikari also demanded that the administration immediately identify and take legal action against the civic volunteer or home guard, as well as take punitive measures.
"However, this will not be possible because they are engaging in this type of activity day after day with the covert support of the government or administration. Therefore, the Trinamool government needs to be removed immediately because this situation needs to change in the state," he claimed.