Kolkata, 20 July (H.S.): West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday tabled the report of the Justice (Retd.) Sushanta Chatterjee Commission in the State Assembly on the 1993 police firing incident. He alleged that the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government used the incident for political gains over the years but failed to implement the commission's key recommendations.

Addressing the Assembly, the Chief Minister said the commission had recommended compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the family of each of the 13 Youth Congress supporters killed in the firing and Rs 5 lakh for every injured person. He alleged that despite receiving the report in 2024, the then TMC government neither implemented these recommendations nor announced any action on them. He further claimed that the victims' families received only Rs 2 lakh each, while the injured were paid just Rs 15,000 each.

Adhikari said the commission concluded that there was no situation warranting police firing on the protesters. He alleged that Mamata Banerjee and the TMC had exploited the incident for political purposes for years and that several people had built their political and personal fortunes around it.

Referring to evidence before the commission, the Chief Minister said former Leader of the Opposition Pankaj Banerjee did not appear before the panel but had reportedly held the then Home Secretary Manish Gupta primarily responsible for the incident. He also noted that Gupta later served as Power Minister in the TMC government. Adhikari further alleged that Mamata Banerjee, regarded as one of the principal eyewitnesses to the incident, was never summoned to testify before the commission.

The incident dates back to July 21, 1993, when a Youth Congress rally led by Mamata Banerjee was marching towards the Writers' Buildings, then the state secretariat, during the Left Front regime. Police opened fire on the protesters, killing 13 activists and injuring several others, while Banerjee herself was also injured. The Congress subsequently declared July 21 as Martyrs' Day, and after the formation of the Trinamool Congress, the party began observing the day with its annual rally at Dharmatala in Kolkata.

The Justice (Retd.) Sushanta Chatterjee Commission was constituted by the Mamata Banerjee government in 2011 to investigate the incident. After examining more than 300 witnesses, the commission submitted its report to the state government in 2024. The report also recommended departmental action against several IPS officers who served during the then Left Front government. However, the report was not tabled in the Assembly during the TMC government's tenure, and no official announcement was made regarding the implementation of its recommendations.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh