CM blames BJP. RSS as tension intensifies

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for tensions in Sandeshkhali, and claimed that Sheikh Shahjahan, the absconding Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader at the centre of a host of allegations that range from money laundering to harassment, was being targeted.

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The TMC chief also said her government was investigating complaints that have emerged from the violence-hit region, asserting she has "never tolerated injustice in her life".

Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas district, has been witnessing tensions since January 7, when an Enforcement Directorate team that arrived to raid Shahjahan's house in connection with a money-laundering case was attacked by a mob. Even as Shahjahan has evaded arrest, since February 7, villagers led by local women have held violent protests against alleged harassment and exploitation by local TMC leaders.

Speaking in the state assembly on Thursday, Banerjee said the RSS the ideological fountainhead of the BJP has a "shelter in Sandeshkhali". "Among the places prone to riots in West Bengal, Sandeshkhali is one. We strongly handled (law and order) during the Saraswati Puja (on Wednesday), otherwise I doubt whether we could have at all held the puja. There was some planning that was going on," she claimed.