New Delhi/Kolkata: The three-member BJP panel comprising lawmakers Meenakshi Lekhi, Satyapal Singh and Om Mathur were detained today by West Bengal police and prevented from proceeding towards violence-hit Basirhat. They were detained at Michael Nagar about 70 km away from Basirhat, BJP sources said here.
New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi told UNI over phone: "We are clueless on what ground they detained us and prevented from going further as no prohibitory orders were clamped into these areas". She alleged the police officials and personnel too were "clueless on what ground they were arresting or preventing us" from proceeding towards Basirhat. "They seemed to be sure about one thing, we should not be allowed to go further," she said.
Ms Lekhi alleged that the West Bengal police and civil administration were probably trying to "conceal" about the ground realities in Basirhat region of North 24 Parganas. "It is all self-contradictory as on one hand they say situation is normal, on the other hand, they are detaining or preventing us," she said.
BJP president Amit Shah had directed the three MPs and also senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya to visit Basirhat to inquire into recent communal clashes in the state. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed earlier, urging political leaders not to travel to the sensitive areas till the return of normalcy.
Yesterday, three separate delegations of state Congress leaders led by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, BJP leaders led by Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Gangyly and a Left delegation were stopped at three different points and prevented from going to Baduria. The communal clash broke out in Baduria initially and later spread to other parts of Basirhat sub-division over an alleged Facebook post.
The 17-year-old student who posted the supposed Facebook posting was also arrested. The eruption of violence in the area - mostly targeting majority community - as alleged by the BJP leaders - also saw a war of words between the Chief Minister and Governor K N Tripathi. The Union Home Ministry has sought a detailed report from the state government on the episode earlier this week. (UNI)