Opposition condemns extortion bid at Sugata Bose’s house, blames Trinamool

Kolkata, July 4 (IANS) Strongly condemning the extortion bid at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Sugata Bose's house by members of a construction syndicate, West Bengal's opposition leaders and eminent persons on Tuesday termed the 'syndicate raj' as a deep-rooted problem in the society and blamed the ruling party of patronising the offenders.

The state's opposition parties unanimously accused the Trinamool of giving refuge to such "miscreants and extortionists" under their party's banner and claimed several ruling party leaders were involved in it.

"It is shocking that such incidents are happening in the house of the descendents of a statesman like Netaji inside the Chief Minister's constituency. A Trinamool MP and a former parliamentarian of the party reside there. This simply shows the audacity of these miscreants," BJP's National Secretary Rahul Sinha told IANS.

"This shows even the family of Netaji is not safe from these extortionists. It is a deep-rooted problem in the state," he noted.

Accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of discreetly nurturing such miscreants for serving her party's interests, Sinha claimed that Banerjee's promises to eradicate the syndicate culture were mere attempts to portray her image of honesty in public.

"The Chief Minister scolds her ministers and vows to take action against the syndicate in public and in front of the cameras. This is nothing but her clever attempt to eye wash people and portray her honest image in public," he alleged.

Echoing Sinha, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said the Trinamool was synonymous with the state's syndicate culture.

"Trinamool Congress and syndicates are synonymous. Before the last assembly election, some of their party leader themselves admitted that the party would not be able to function if the syndicate rackets are stopped," Chowdhury told IANS over phone.

Referring to the imprudence of the miscreants who dared to threaten a ruling party MP at his residence, he said: "When you allow lumpens to thrive under your party banner, that's what happens. Now the genie is out of the bottle."

Painter Shuvaprasanna Bhattacharya expressed shock at the audacity of the extortionists who intruded into the house to demand money and insulted prominent personalities like Sugata Bose and his mother and former MP Krishna Bose.

"These people have no respect for eminent personalities in the society. How could they enter the house of a statesman like Netaji? Or harass an eminent professor like Sugata Bose," he exclaimed.

The artist, also known for his proximity to the state's ruling party, however, claimed that no political parties could be blamed for the hooliganism, as such people change their political affiliation for their own benefit.

Around 10-12 motor-cycle borne youths entered Bose's residence on Monday and demanded that construction materials for the ongoing repairs of the house be taken from them. They spoke aggressively with Krishna Bose and even had an altercation with Sugata Bode.

"These people wanted that cement, sand and other materials should be taken from them. When I asked them to leave the house, they left."

Following a complaint lodged at Ballygunge police station, the six were arrested within hours and produced in court on Tuesday.

"The six accused have been remanded in judicial custody till July 6," a police officer said.