Kolkata, June 6 (IANS). The BJP government of West Bengal has decided to conduct an inquiry into the incidents of violence, arson and damage to government property that took place during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the year 2019. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has instructed state Director General of Police (DGP) Siddha Nath Gupta for a detailed investigation in this regard.
In fact, in December 2019, there were widespread protests across the country as well as in West Bengal when the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament and became a law after the President’s approval. During that time, there were allegations of violence, arson and damage to government properties in many parts of the state.
During these demonstrations, incidents of setting buses on fire, damage to railway property and vandalism at many places were reported. Now after the change of power, the BJP government is preparing to take action in these matters.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday directed the DGP to investigate all complaints related to allegations of damage to government property during the 2019 anti-CAA protests. For this, a special cell will also be formed within the state police, which will investigate these cases.
According to administrative sources, the office of this special cell will be established in Bhawanipur, the assembly constituency of the Chief Minister. A new file will be prepared after investigating the old cases and the culprits will be identified.
The state government has also decided that if allegations of damaging government property are proved against any person, compensation will be recovered from him as compensation for the loss.
Cooperation of Railway Police will also be taken to investigate incidents of arson, looting and vandalism in railway areas.
According to administrative sources, maximum number of complaints of property damage were registered in Murshidabad district and Uluberia area of Howrah. Apart from vandalism and arson at Beldanga police station, there were also allegations of incidents like burning of train and looting in Uluberia.
The government says that these cases will be investigated impartially and legal action will be taken against the culprits and compensation for the loss caused to government property will be ensured.
–IANS
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