BJP supporters today surrounded the Sandeshkhali police station demanding the arrest of the alleged fake video maker, in which Gangadhar Koyal, the mandal president of the BJP has been ‘framed’. The BJP has accused Trinamul of orchestrating this and attempting to tarnish BJP’s image by editing videos. BJP leaders demand the arrest of the creators of the video.

Haji Nurul Islam, a Trinamul candidate from Basirhat, however ridiculed and criticized the BJP over the issue. A sting video, lasting 32 minutes and 43 seconds, has sparked controversy in state politics. Local BJP workers surrounded the Sandeshkhali police station this morning, demanding the arrest of the producers of the edited video. Ratikanta Dhali, a local BJP leader, stated that the video showing Gangadhar Koyal is being circulated by the Trinamul government to defame BJP. The BJP supporters kept the police station under seize for close to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar alleged that the video of the ‘sting operation’ on Sandeshkhali was an attempt by the TMC to suppress the truth. Majumdar also questioned the timing of the video’s release, claiming that the TMC will use it to give a clean chit to its suspended leader Sheikh Shajahan. “This video was brought to the forefront by the TMC only to suppress the truth of Sandeshkhali. Why was the sting operation conducted at the time when the election was underway? But, it’ll not be that easy to fool the people of Bengal. They are politically mature and understand why the video surfaced at this time,” he said.

The TMC on Saturday shared the viral video on social media, in which a man claiming to be BJP mandal president was heard saying that leader of the opposition “Suvendu Adhikari was behind the whole conspiracy”. Majumdar said the video was “fake”, and suspected that artificial intelligence (AI) was used in making it. “Our leader Gangadhar Kayal (BJP mandal president) has denied that it was he who was in the tape. And soon after the video was out, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said his party should have thought twice before suspending Shajahan Sheikh,” Majumdar claimed.

“Now this video will be used to give a clean chit to Shajahan. It will be used to clear his involvement in the sexual abuse and land grabbing cases,” he added. Majumdar, who is contesting the LS electon, said 600-700 people from Sandeshkhali have filed complaints. “Why should we accept only one person’s version discarding the claims of this huge number of people,” he asked. He also alleged that whenever there is an incident of rape, TMC leaders start assassinating the character of the victim.

“Why has the CM not gone to Sandeshkhali? I challenge her to go there and we will show her how the plots were turned into fish farms under Shajahan’s leadership. We have also seen the central agencies unearthing arms and ammunition from a house there,” he said.