West Bengal: Miscreants vandalise property of Ramakrishna Mission in Jalpaiguri, police complaint lodged

According to media reports, Pradeep Roy, an infamous land grabber in the area, was allegedly behind the incident.

Roy, along with 10 to 12 miscreants, allegedly entered the property with armed with firearms and other sharp weapons and tried to take possession of it.

They broke the CCTV cameras, confiscated everyone’s mobile phones, and threatened to demolish the building and kill all the residents, reported Millenium Post.

Swami Shivapremananda, the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Jalpaiguri, later lodged a police complaint with Bhaktinagar Police Station.

“No one has been arrested yet. Investigations are on,” Tanmoy Sarkar, DCP, HeadQuarter told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Gautam Deb, the Mayor of Siliguri, condemned the incident and said strict action will be taken against those behind the incident.

“We will not tolerate such activities. These are land mafias and anti-socials. Strict action will be taken against them. No one will be spared. There is nothing related to politics. I will communicate with the Ashram authorities in detail. The police will definitely take action,” the Mayor told the newspaper.

Narendra Modi reacts

While holding an election campaign in Jhargram, Indian PM Narendra Modi targeted the TMC-led government of the state over the incident and was quoted as saying by media: "The Chief Minister is openly threatening monks. Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananada, ISKCON and Bharat Sevashram Sangha is the pride of Bengal. Could anyone even think earlier that such institutions would be openly threatened?"

"The Ramakrishna Mission ashram in Jalpaiguri of north Bengal was attacked on Sunday. The ashram was vandalised, and some of the monks kidnapped," he said.

CM Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, clarified she had a deep respect for organisations like Ramakrishna Mission, Bharat Svashram Sangha and ISKCON.

"I only spoke about one or two people," she said.

"I took the name of one person – Kartik Maharaj (Swami Pradiptananda, the head of Bharat Sevashram Sangha asram in Murshidabad's Beldanga). He did not allow Trinamool Congress agent to sit in a booth. He was also responsible for the riot in Murshidabad’s Rejinagar two days before the polls," she was quoted as saying by media.

"That is what I had flagged. He was earlier associated with Adhir (Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) and is now with the BJP. I have no opposition to his ashram there. But when I asked why that area had no AITC (polling) agents, I was told that Kartik Maharaj said they wouldn’t allow Trinamool’s agents there. They even incited a few people there who are involved in dairy business," she said.

Kartik Maharah has sent a defamation notice to Banerjee and asked her to unconditionally apologise within 48 hours for her comments and refrain from repeating them in the future.