Kolkata, 01 April (H.S.) : Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has approached the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking its intervention over the alleged tracking of their mobile phone locations by senior state police officials.

Both leaders have contacted West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer in the afternoon and submitted a written complaint, alleging that several top police officers were behind the surveillance of their mobile phones.

Adhikari and Bhattacharya named officials they claimed were involved in tracking their cell phone tower locations. Adhikari alleged that Vineet Kumar Goyal, Director General of the state Intelligence Branch, and Javed Shamim, Director General of the State Special Task Force, were involved in the alleged surveillance.

“We have definite evidence in support of our allegations,” Adhikari claimed.

He also alleged that certain other officers, including Director of Security Manoj Kumar Verma, Jangipur Police District Superintendent Mehedi Hasan, and West Midnapore Superintendent of Police Palash Dhali, were not properly implementing the Commission’s directives despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force ahead of the two-phase Assembly elections scheduled next month.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress vice-president Jai Prakash Majumdar rejected the allegations, terming them politically motivated.

“The BJP is frustrated and fearing defeat in the upcoming Assembly elections, which is why such baseless allegations are being made. These claims reflect their fear of electoral loss,” Majumdar said.

He also countered the accusations by referring to allegations surrounding surveillance technology, claiming that the BJP was making unfair charges. He also mentioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah in his response while rejecting the opposition’s claims.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh