Hardeep Singh Puri meets family of BJP leader killed in Bengal post-poll violence

Sep 23,2021

Hardeep Singh Puri meets family of BJP leader killed in Bengal post-poll violence

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday met the family members of Abhijit Sarkar, a BJP leader who was killed during the post-poll violence in West Bengal.

"This has been swept under the carpet. In coming days, we will make post-poll violence an agenda," said Hardeep Singh Puri.

Hardeep Singh Puri spoke to Abhijit Sarkar's family and assured them of help. Biswajit Sarkar told India Today that he wants justice for his brother Abhijit. He alleged that he was being attacked by the family of one of the accused and added that the police were allegedly turning a blind eye despite evidence.

"The CBI investigation is underway. Warrants have been issued against the 12 accused. There have been attacks on me in front of the police. They have CCTV footage, but they haven't taken any action," said Biswajit Sarkar.

This is the first time that a Union minister visited Sarkar's family following the post-poll violence judgment by the Calcutta High Court on August 19.

Puri is in Kolkata on a two-day visit to campaign for BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal. She is the party’s candidate against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the upcoming Bhabanipur bypoll on September 30.

Tibrewal, who is a lawyer by profession, had filed a PIL in the Calcutta High Court seeking justice for victims of forceful violence including those who had been allegedly raped and killed and for some BJP workers who had fled their homes after Trinamool Congress (TMC) won the assembly elections.

The court had taken recommendations from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) committee who had submitted a report after speaking to victims of post-poll violence in West Bengal.

One of the recommendations was that grievous crimes of rape and murder be investigated by a central investigating agency while other cases be investigated by a court-monitored special investigating team.

The court had also asked for the autopsy report of Sarkar to be handed over to the investigating authority, the CBI.

A court had said that Abhijit Sarkar's body could be handed over to the family along with the autopsy report. The CBI had also issued a no-objection certificate to the family for handing over the body.