Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker Reaz Buksh and his family members were allegedly beaten up by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers on Sunday, January 13 in Tollygunge, Kolkata for posting a WhatsApp status critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Buksh, a CPI(M) Rashbehari Area Committee member, posted a status on Whatsapp which read: “Jene geche jonota, Modi’r dalal Mamata“. (The public has understood, Mamata is Modi’s agent).
“I posted the status around 8.30 pm on Sunday evening. Minister Aroop Biswas’ PA Somnath Paul (Bunty) called me around 10.30 or 10.40 pm. He abused me for posting the status. He even threatened me,” Buksh told NewsCentral24x7. Biswas, the Minister for North Bengal Development represents Tollygunge constituency in the state assembly.
“After Somnath Paul disconnected, I called him back and asked him to not use derogatory language. He threatened me saying he will teach me a lesson,” Buksh added. He claimed that 10-15 minutes after he spoke to Paul, his family heard some noises outside his residence in Prince Anwar Shah Road. “A mob led by Somnath Paul broke the lock on the main gate of my residence and started calling out my name,” Buksh, a non-teaching staff at Calcutta Institute of Engineering and Management, said.
Buksh pointed out that his two brothers, two aunts and a sister-in-law, who were present in the house, were also assaulted by the mob. “Around 50 people were there. They beat me up. They even hit the female members of my family,” he said.
Buksh’s colleague Riddho Choudhury told NewsCentral24x7 that his family members could not visit MR Bangur Government Hospital for treatment as the TMC members had blocked all the roads of the area. The family then went to Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (popularly known as PG Hospital) for treatment, he informed.
According to Buksh’s family, the events took a turn for the worse when local police visited his residence around 12.30 am and asked him to accompany them to Charu Market Police Station. They said the police told Buksh that he was being taken to the police station for his safety.
“After keeping me in the station for the entire night. They filed a case against me in the morning. They said I beat up Pappu, Azhar and Shanky. While Shanky is my neighbour and was present at my place when the incident took place in the night, the other two were not even present. Shanky was also beaten up by the TMC goons, but police harassed me instead,” Buksh said.
A case was registered against Buksh under IPC sections 323, 506, 341, 114. He is currently out on bail. Activists of social forums like Save Democracy and Akranto Amra (We are Threatened) visited Buksh and his family to extend their support.
“I spoke to the police yesterday. They defended their actions by saying that they took him (Buksh) to the station thinking he might be attacked fatally. However, this excuse is unacceptable as Buksh was arrested while the miscreants who targetted him are still out in spite of the fact that we identify them. Moreover, the police have not even registered FIR against the TMC goons,” poet Mandakranta Sen told NewsCenral24x7.
Along with other social activists, Sen will visit the police on January 15, Tuesday evening to ensure that Buksh gets justice and the TMC workers are arrested, she said.
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