Kolkata, April 2 BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari alleged on Thursday that the gherao of judicial officers and violence in Sujapur, Malda, during the SIR exercise was "planned and organized by the TMC" under the leadership of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Addressing a press conference here, Adhikari claimed that the gherao of the judicial officers involved in the SIR exercise in Malda was orchestrated from the "top level of the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee," with local leader Sabina Yasmin executing the plan on the ground.
Seven judicial officers were rescued by security forces on Wednesday night after protesters gheraoed them for several hours over the deletion of names from electoral rolls in Malda district.
Adhikari specifically named Yasmin as the "primary architect of implementation" of the alleged plan at the district level.
Earlier, Banerjee had blamed the Election Commission for "failing to protect" the judicial officers and alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was orchestrating changes in the state's civil and police administration.
"Everything is Shah's conspiracy, I demand his resignation," she had said.
Adhikari also demanded action against the officer-in-charge and the deputy commissioner of the Kolkata Police's Kalighat division for allegedly failing to show proper respect during his nomination filing procession earlier in the day, which was attended by Shah.
According to him, the officers' conduct reflected "administrative bias", and he urged the Election Commission to initiate appropriate action against them.
He further demanded that the Kaliachak police station hand over all case documents related to the Malda incident to either the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by midnight, alleging a risk of evidence tampering.
Drawing a parallel with the RG Kar hospital case, Adhikari alleged that evidence had been destroyed within five days in that instance and warned of a similar possibility in the gherao of judicial officers.
The Supreme Court on Thursday took serious note of the incident in which judicial officials were allegedly taken "hostage", terming it deplorable and seeking responses from the state home secretary, director general of police and other officials over their "inaction".
Adhikari further accused the ruling TMC of resorting to "medieval barbarism" and social boycotts to intimidate political opponents, citing an alleged incident in Nandigram where a BJP supporter was issued a fatwa barring him from entering a mosque and denying him access to a government-funded water tap.