Ram Navami Violence: Picture Of Gun-Wielding Man With BJP Leaders Surface After Party Alleged TMC Link

BJP had accused the TMC of planting their people and then detaining them to defame Hindus and the BJP.

New Delhi: Pictures have surfaced showing Sumit Shaw, the 19-year-old who was apprehended in Munger for displaying weapons during the Ram Navami procession in Howrah, with BJP leaders, contradicting the party's claim that he had connections with the Trinamool Congress.

BJP had alleged that Sumit Shaw was closely linked to TMC MLA Gautam Chaudhary and had participated in their events, as stated by his mother. The party further accused the TMC of planting their people and then detaining them to defame Hindus and the BJP.

In a tweet, the BJP said, "Sumit Shaw, the 19-year-old arrested from Munger, for flashing an illegal weapon, was closely associated with TMC MLA Gautam Chaudhary and attended their programs, claims his mother. Yet another instance of TMC planting their people, then arresting them to malign Hindus and BJP."

According to police, Shaw confessed his participation in the procession with firearms during interrogation.

Massive violence had erupted at Shibpur in Howrah during the Ram Navami procession on March 30. During the procession, the rioters vandalised public and private properties and set vehicles on fire.

Following the violence, the West Bengal government on Friday handed over the probe to Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday told the media, "People were carrying guns and swords in the Ram Navami procession. Shops and materials of small vendors were vandalised and torched. What form of a procession is this? They were insanely playing DJ. Is it the way Ram Navami is celebrated? Which ritual is this? We have lived in Bengal for so long, but we have never seen anything like this. I might be lying, but these videos won’t lie.”

Reacting to the incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of hiring goons from outside the state to orchestrate communal riots.

"They have been hiring goons from outside the state to orchestrate communal riots. Nobody has stopped their processions but they do not have the right to march with swords and bulldozers. How did they get the audacity to do this in Howrah?" ANI quoted Banerjee as saying.

The Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government to submit a comprehensive report on the violence on April 5.