Alleged Attack On Union Minister Nisith Pramanik's Convoy In Cooch Behar, Calcutta High Court Orders CBI Probe

On Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court mandated a CBI probe into claims that Nisith Pramanik, the Union Minister of State for Home, and his convoy were attacked in the Cooch Behar district during the final week of February. Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, filed a PIL in which he claimed that on February 25, while visiting his district, Pramanik, a BJP MP from Dinhata in north Bengal, was attacked and stones were thrown at his convoy.

Adhikari pleaded for a CBI probe into the alleged assault, alleging that the state police had rejected the CISF's request to file a complaint while they were protecting the minister, and had instead detained BJP activists. The alleged assault on the Union minister was the subject of a CBI probe, which was ordered by a division bench chaired by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava. Additionally, Adhikari claimed that bombs were thrown at the minister's convoy, causing damage to it. In opposition to the petition and disputing the accusations, West Bengal Advocate General S. N. Mookherjee spoke for the state administration. The assault, according to Adhikari's allegations in the PIL, was carried out by Trinamool Congress activists.

February 25: Attack On The Convoy

At Dinhata in Cooch Behar on February 25, there were claims of an attack on the convoy of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's deputy Pramanik. The BJP claimed that there were bombings, shootings, and stone-throwing assaults. Pramanik went to Dinhata on that day, as stated in the previously published programme. He was engaging with BJP members while touring various neighbourhoods there. Local reports claim that when his convoy arrived in the Burirhat region, Trinamool workers showed him a black flag. As a result, things got heated up. The North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha, according to the BJP, orchestrated the assault on Pramanik's convoy. However, Pramanik was attacked back by Udayan, the minister in charge of North Bengal's Development, who blamed him for the entire incident. According to the Trinamool MLA of Dinhata, Pramanik allegedly intended to occupy the area with anti-social elements. 

Following this, the BJP raised concerns about the state's law and order situation. About the event, Governor CV Anand Bose also spoke. The governor described the assault as "deplorable" and questioned the state's law and order situation. Following this, the BJP move the division bench, presided over by Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava.