Unrest in Sandeshkhali following arrest of 4 in TMC MLA heckle case

Barasat: A group of people in Sandeshkhali on Monday staged a road blockade by setting tyres on fire objecting to the arrest of four women, known as BJP workers, for allegedly heckling TMC leaders including an MLA in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali.

They also protested against purported videos circulated "to malign the image" of saffron party leaders.

A huge number of policemen, including RAF, were deployed at Berhmajur in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district in the evening, who restored to lathi-charge to disperse the gathering.

Local women alleged that they were manhandled by the police personnel and demanded immediate release of the four arrested people.

"Police have arrested four women from Sandeshkhali because they protested against the atrocities of the TMC. We are not going to tolerate this. Why is the police not arresting those who are spreading fake videos," one resident said.

"People cannot take the law into their own hands and we will not allow that. We will not let people disrupt law and order here. We have detained a few people today... Our officers are talking to them," the police officer told PTI.

A senior police officer of Basirhat Police District also reached the place to take stock of the situation there.

The arrested women were sent to four days of police custody by a local court on Monday, an officer said.

On Sunday, BJP workers demonstrated against the circulation of purported videos "to malign the image" of saffron party leaders in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, and allegedly heckled the local TMC legislator for spreading 'misinformation' over complaints of sexual abuse, lodged by women in the area.

They also beat up a local TMC activist in Sandeshkhali for allegedly being involved in "disseminating false information about atrocities on women" in the area.

An FIR was lodged in connection with the incident prompting the police to arrest four people for their alleged involvement.

A series of purported videos surfaced recently from Sandeshkhali where TMC leaders were accused of sexual assault and land grab.

In the first such clip, a BJP leader of Sandeshkhali was heard saying that the protests by women were 'staged' at the behest of Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, who was behind the 'whole conspiracy'.

In another video, a section of the women, who had earlier filed rape complaints, claimed that they were made to sign a blank paper by the BJP leaders and coerced to go to the police station.

The BJP leader who was seen in the first video was also heard saying in a third clip that over 70 women had received Rs 2,000 each for taking part in protests against local TMC leaders.

PTI did not verify the authenticity of the videos.