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Updated April 17th, 2021 at 20:43 IST

TMC threatens action against BJP for 'illegally recording' calls of Mamata Banerjee

TMC wrote a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer accusing the BJP of illegally recording the conversation between Mamata Banerjee and Partha Pratim Ray

Reported by: Pritesh Kamath
TMC
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After the BJP released audiotapes of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Partha Pratim Ray allegedly having a conversation of holding procession with dead bodies of those who died in CISF firing in Sitalkuchi, TMC on Saturday wrote a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) accusing the BJP of illegally recording the conversation between Mamata Banerjee and Partha Pratim Ray who is the TMC Candidate from Sitalkuchi.

The TMC delegation including Yashwant Sinha, Derek O'Brien and Purnendu Basu stated that the audiotape was played at the BJP office in presence of BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya and BJP leader and MP Locket Chatterjee.

"In the said conference, it has been alleged that in the aftermath of the CISF firing incident at Sitalkuchi, Mamata Banerjee had a conversation with Partha Pratim Ray. The BJP has not only illegally recorded and/or caused it to be recorded, but also played it at the press conference out of context. The entire exercise by the BJP is an illegal act and is a direct assault on legal rights, including the Right to Privacy of Mamata Banerjee and Partha Pratim Ray," the TMC delegation said.

"For such gross violation and the consequences of the said act of BJP, necessary steps for prosecution under criminal law shall be taken separately," they added.

BJP on Saturday approached the Election Commission to examine the audiotape at the earliest and constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a detailed investigation. Speaking on the authenticity of the tapes, Shishir Bajoria of the BJP said, "As far as the authenticity of the tape is concerned, Derek O'Brien and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy confirmed it in a conversation with the media. The only goal of the tape was to create further polarization."

The stunning audiotapes

The BJP on Friday released an audiotape allegedly of Mamata Banerjee speaking with Partha Pratim Ray, instructing him that "a procession will be taken out with the dead bodies of those fired upon by the CRPF, and all the CRPF personnel involved will be suspended and sent behind bars after cases are filed against them through lawyers".

In the tape shared by the BJP, Mamata Banerjee can be heard saying "Do not hand over the dead bodies to the families", while adding that "SP needs to be framed, also the IC needs to be framed."

Reacting to it, Amit Malviya had claimed that "Mamata Banerjee is trying to instigate riots by asking her party leaders to take out rallies with bodies".

"She is heard asking her party candidate to frame the case in such a way that both the superintendent of police (of Cooch Behar) and other central forces personnel can be framed. Is this expected from a chief minister? She is trying to instil a sense of fear just for minority votes," he had said on Friday.

Sitalkuchi violence

During the fourth phase of voting, four people were killed during the CISF firing. Later, the EC report said that CISF had fired in self-defence as the mob tried to snatch their weapons. Another person was killed in a separate shooting incident in a different voting booth on the same day.

The CISF's Quick Reaction Team (QRT) was attacked by a mob comprising of 50-60 miscreants who were allegedly resisting the voters from reaching polling booth no.126 in Sitalkuchi on April 10. The miscreants then attacked the QRT personnel and their vehicles forcing the latter to act in self-defence and fired six rounds in the air to disperse the crowd. The mob returned after an hour yet again and assaulted the Home guard and an Asha worker and also allegedly attempted to beat up the polling staff who were on duty.

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Published April 17th, 2021 at 20:43 IST

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