Kolkata:

West Bengal is about to witness yet one more political showdown on the Sandeshkhali subject after BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari and CPM’s Brinda Karat had been stopped from visiting the island this morning. The Sandeshkhali island in North 24 Parganas district has made headlines following BJP’s allegations of sexual violence by Trinamool leaders and a number of accounts of girls alleging harassment and extortion.

Mr Adhikari, who’s Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly, was stopped at Dhamakhali earlier than he and his supporters might board a ferry to take them to the island. This is his third try to go to Sandeshkhali after the allegations in opposition to Trinamool leaders raised a political storm.

Incidentally, the Calcutta High Court yesterday allowed Mr Adhikari to go to Sandeshkhali. It requested the BJP chief to file an endeavor that he and his supporters will not interact in any exercise that will result in deterioration of the regulation and order state of affairs. But this morning, police and riot management power personnel had been seen placing up barricades to cease the BJP chief and his supporters at Dhamakhali. Additionally, the native administration clamped prohibitory orders in Sandeshkhali and surrounding areas, barring public gatherings.

“I have a court order. Even then, you are stopping me. This is unfortunate. I will wait for an hour. Then I will return to Kolkata and draw the high court’s attention to this. The Mamata Banerjee government and its police are not abiding by the Calcutta High Court’s order,” he stated.

Ms Karat was additionally stopped at Dhamakhali earlier than she might proceed to the island. BJP and CPM supporters at the moment are holding separate demonstrations in Dhamakhali.

The island is on the centre of a large political row after the BJP alleged that aides of native Trinamool strongman Sheikh Shahjahan sexually harassed ladies. NDTV floor reviews revealed allegations of land seize and extortion as native residents accused Shahjahan’s aides of forcibly taking cash they obtained underneath central and state authorities’s welfare schemes.

Mr Shahjahan has been on the run for a month now after an Enforcement Directorate crew conducting raids in opposition to him in a corruption case was attacked by a mob. Two of his aides, Uttam Sardar and Shibu Hazra, have been arrested.

State police have stated a complete of 17 arrests have been made and camps have been arrange in Sandeshkhali to document the complaints of native residents.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has accused the BJP of fomenting hassle on the island, with social gathering chief Mamata Banerjee saying that Sandeshkhali has an “RSS base” – suggesting the outfit’s function within the unrest.