Political storm continues over Bandyopadhyay’s arrest, TMC MPs stage protest

New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) The political storm after the arrest of Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay continued on Thursday as party MPs staged a protest march here to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) but were detained on their way.

No less than 32 Trinamool MPs took out the march towards the PMO on Raisina Hill. They were, however, stopped midway by personnel of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and Delhi Police. The police detained the protesters and whisked them away in buses.

The TMC members alleged that male police officers manhandled female MPs while restraining them.

The protesters shouted slogans like "Modi hatao, desh bachao" during their march.

Bandyopadhyay was arrested on January 3 by the Central Bureau of Investigation on charge of involvement in the Rose Valley chit fund scam and sent to six-day custody. Another Trinamool MP Tapas Paul is also in CBI remand in the case.

Paul had accused BJP member and Union minister Babul Supriyo of not only involvement in the scam but also "tricking" him into the fraud, a charge reiterated by his wife Nandini.

Supriyo, meanwhile, said he will file defamation suits against the TMC leaders and Paul's wife.

"I will file separate cases of defamation, both civil and criminal, against Saugata Roy, Tapas Paul and Nandini Paul," Supriyo told the media here.

The Trinamool, including its chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have repeatedly alleged Supriyo's involvement with the company and demanded his arrest.

Supriyo, the Minister of State for Heavy Industries, also came down heavily on Banerjee over attacks on BJP activists in Bengal following Bandyopadhyay's arrest.

Suspected Trinamool activists attacked the BJP Bengal headquarters in Kolkata and injured over a dozen BJP workers. Supriyo's Kolkata residence was also attacked on Wednesday.

Some cars parked in the alley leading to the office were vandalised and the building pelted with stones, leading to injuries to 12 BJP workers.

A BJP West Bengal unit delegation meanwhile met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and submitted a memorandum that the Mamata Banerjee government had failed to protect their party's cadres in the state.

In the memorandum, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary and party's state affairs in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya said there is complete breakdown of law and order in the state.

He accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of attacking BJP offices in various parts of the state.

West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi advised the Mamata Banerjee government to maintain law and order, irrespective of political affiliations.

"Every state, irrespective of political attachments, should try to ensure peace in the state and maintain law and order," Tripathi said in reference to the eruption of violence in West Bengal in the last few days.