Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee members of Burnpur agitated outside the ancestral house of local BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul for alleged Khalistani comments on an IPS officer of West Bengal today evening.

The members of Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee of Burnpur organised a rally and agitated outside the residence of Asansol South MLA Agnimitra Paul in Ashok Nagar in Asansol this evening.

The members also chanted slogans and later in the evening blocked the Grand Trunk (GT) Road near Asansol South Police Station in protest.

The controversial comment by a BJP member has sparked a row and the members of sikh community have opposed and announced major agitation on this issue in Asansol and Durgapur.

The national highways will be blocked by the members of the Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee in Durgapur tomorrow.

Surendar Singh Antu, president of Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee of Burnpur said that they are shocked to hear the comments from the BJP member.

“Turban is considered as sacred thing by the Sikh community and the Sikh community has a glorious history in serving the nation in Indian Army and such comments are really shocking and unaccepted. We condemn the Khalistani comment on our fellow IPS officer, who was disbursing his professional duties at that time and seek apology from Agnimitra Paul. Many of our grandparents were freedom fighters,” he added.

Agnimitra Paul was born and brought up at New Town in Burnpur and her father Dr Ashok Roy has retired from the Burnpur Hospital of IISCO Steel Plant.

The sitting MLA of Asansol South now stays at Ashok Nagar in Asansol town. At the time of her statement state committee member and BJP candidate for the Asansol North Assembly seat, Krishnendu Mukherjee, who also hails from Asansol was along with him during the agitation.

Agnimitra Paul has also unsuccessfully contested the Asansol Lok Sabha by polls in 2022 and lost to Shatrughan Sinha of TMC by a margin of over three lakh votes.

In fact, speculation is rife that she will be contesting in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the Durgapur – Burdwan seat replacing another sitting sikh MP and son of the soil of Asansol, Surendar Singh Ahluwalia.

A police picket has been posted outside her house by Asansol Durgapur Police Commissionerate. At the time of agitation Agnimitra Paul was not present at her residence in Asansol.

She gets CISF armed jawans from the central home ministry as bodyguards.