The Left Front councillors walked out during the board meeting of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) today on the issue of the Ramakrishna Mission’s land and property grabbing case.
Conflict arose when a CPM council member, Saradindu Chakraborty, brought up the issue of the land grabbing case and the involvement of the police in the SMC region. The board’s chairman, Pratul Chakraborty, stopped him from discussing the matter.
The Left councillors opted to leave in objection and declared that if the chairman does not permit them to voice their opinions, they will address the issue elsewhere.
“The present board, led by the Trinamul Congress, is engaged in unlawful actions. The chairman has hindered us from discussing the matters at hand in order to conceal the facts. Members of the ruling party, as well as a group of land criminals, were implicated in the incident,” said a Left councillor.
The Siliguri Metropolitan Police have arrested one more individual in relation to the Ramakrishna Mission’s property grabbing case. So far, a total of eight people have been taken into custody. However, the primary suspect Pradip Roy, who was identified in the complaint filed by the Ramkrishna Mission, has still not been apprehended.
A group of miscreants abducted seven persons from the building belonging to Ramakrishna Mission at gunpoint on 18 May around 3.30 a.m. and forcibly took control over the building.
Upon receiving orders from chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the police took decisive measures by establishing a police post in the area to ensure the peaceful functioning of the Ramakrishna Mission. In addition, Siliguri Mayor Goutam Deb presented transfer documents to Ramakrishna Mission secretary Swami Shivapremananda and guaranteed that there would be no interference with the Mission’s operations in the vicinity.