Sandeshkhali unrest: Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar dragged by cops during protest

Kolkata, Feb 22 (IANS) Lok Sabha MP and West Bengal unit BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Thursday was dragged by the police out of the unrest-struck Sandeshkhali village in the state's North 24 Parganas district while he was staging a protest in front of a police station there. 

According to sources in the know of things, Majumdar, who was earlier arrested, was later released on bail. He was brought to the ferry-jetty at Dhamakhali, one of the waterway entry points to Sandeshkhali.

Initially, it was not clear whether Majumdar was arrested or just taken away from the Sandeshkhali police station. Later, it was learned that he was first arrested and then released on bail after being taken at "a reasonable distance" from Sandeshkhali.

While he was being dragged from the police station, there was a scuffle between the police personnel and the local BJP supporters at Sandeshkhali.

Majumdar claimed that he had been facing hurdles since the beginning when he tried to enter Sandeshkhali with just two persons who were accompanying him on Thursday afternoon.

"The police did not even allow two persons to come with me. So, I decided to enter Sandeshkhali with my personal bodyguards," he said.

After entering Sandeshkhali, he first went to the residence of a BJP leader Bikas Sinha, who had been arrested recently on charges of instigating people, and interacted with his family members.

Thereafter, he went to the police station and staged an agitation there, demanding the arrest of absconding Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, whose supporters had been accused of indulging in acts of sexual harassment and violence against women in Sandeshkhali.

Recently, Majumdar fell ill after he got caught amid a scuffle between the BJP activists and the police personnel at Taki in North 24 Parganas district while he was prevented from approaching Sandeshkhali. He was also later hospitalised.

--IANS

src/pgh