Kolkata: West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was injured Wednesday after losing balance and falling on a car’s bonnet. Sukanta Majumdar was standing on the bonnet, while addressing reporters in North 24 Parganas district. He was immediately taken to a hospital, a party official said.
Majumdar, who was prevented from going to restive Sandeshkhali by the district administration Tuesday, put up at a guest house in Taki late in the night following a dharna in front of the Basirhat police district SP’s office.
The state BJP president made attempts to go to Sandeshkhali again Wednesday morning. However, Sukanta Majumdar was prevented by the police from leaving the area.
Majumdar, also a Lok Sabha MP from the state’s Balurghat constituency, was addressing reporters when he slipped and fell on the bonnet, a BJP official said. The incident happened at Taki on the banks of Ichamati river along the India-Bangladesh border.
The car on which he fell had a police sticker pasted on its windscreen, the official informed. He was taken to Basirhat sub-divisional hospital following the incident. Doctors after initially treating Majumdar gave the go-ahead so that he could be transferred to a hospital here. Accordingly Majumdar was brought here and admitted to the hospital. Doctors said his condition is stable.
Earlier in the day, Majumdar alleged that police cordoned off the lodge where he put up in Taki to prevent him from heading towards the restive Sandeshkhali, which has been witnessing protests over alleged atrocities on villagers by goons owing allegiance to the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Majumdar said he was scheduled to visit Sandeshkhali in the afternoon to meet the agitators. “After yesterday’s (Tuesday) protests, I decided to stay at a lodge in Taki so that I could easily visit Sandeshkhali from here. However, since this (Wednesday) morning, police have blocked the entrance of the lodge and are not allowing me to move out,” Majumdar stated.
Majumdar claimed he was put under ‘house arrest’, a claim denied by the police. A huge police contingent, equipped with riot gear, was seen deployed outside the lodge. Sandeshkhali is around 35km from Taki.
Responding to the BJP leader’s allegations, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh accused the saffron party of trying to ‘vitiate the atmosphere’.
“The allegations are baseless. The BJP is trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the area. They want to disturb the law and order situation,” Ghosh said.
Protests persisted in Sandeshkhali for the seventh consecutive day Wednesday, with a significant number of women taking to the streets, demanding the arrest of TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan and his alleged ‘gang’. The accusations against Shajahan and his aides include forcefully capturing land and sexually harassing women.