TOI lensman hit by CRPF in Howrah booth

HOWRAH: The sitting member of Parliament from Howrah, Prasun Banerjee, was allegedly assaulted by CRPF outside a booth at Balitikuri Muktaram Dey High School in Howrah following an altercation over entering the booth. In the melee, photographer Biplab Bhattacharya who contributes photographs regularly to TOI was also assaulted by the CRPF personnel on duty while they were dispersing the crowd.The incident led Trinamool to lodge separate complaints with the Dasnagar police, the CEO and the district magistrate. TOI witnessed the incident that took place at around 12.45 pm on Monday. Banerjee who had been on a whirlwind tour to different booths across Howrah reached the Baltikuri school at around 12.40 pm and ran into resistance by the CRPF personnel when he and his personal assistant (also his polling agent) Indranil Basu tried to enter booths 117 and 118. The CRPF personnel said they had stopped him because he had refused to show his ID card. TOI found Banerjee arguing that he is the sitting MP and the candidate and also trying to display his ID card. Another round of argument broke out between the two time MP and the CRPF when a commandant asked him not to block the entrance of the booth. Some Trinamool supporters including women raised their voice when the CRPF allegedly pushed Banerjee. The CRPF resorted to lalthicharge and the MP was hit with fibre sticks.
When Banerjee tried to block the road outside the booth, the CRPF charged at him again. He was hurt in the right hand and shoulder. It was around this time that a CPRF man hit the TOI representative, shouting: “Why are you clicking the MP’s photo?” As he tried to move away and show his press card, he was assaulted thrice. He received injuries on his legs. TOI separately lodged a complaint with Dasnagar police and the special police observer Vivek Dubey and Howrah police commissioner Vishal Garg who promised to take a call on the incident. “The CRPF is acting on the orders of Narendra Modi. But Bengal will never allow such conspiracies. We will reach out to the highest bodies and demand action against the perpetrators,” Banerjee told TOI later.