Kolkata, 21 July (H.S.): The Congress on Tuesday demanded action against former West Bengal Home Secretary Manish Gupta over the police firing during the Youth Congress' Writers' Building march on July 21, 1993.

At the party's Martyrs' Day programme at the Shahid Minar grounds in Kolkata, Congress leaders placed a photograph of Gupta inside a symbolic dock, alleging that he had ordered police to open fire on protesters during the Left Front government's tenure.

The party also displayed a photograph of then Youth Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at the venue, recalling her role in the 1993 movement.

The controversy over Manish Gupta's role has resurfaced after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, in the West Bengal Assembly on Monday, made public documents related to the inquiry into the 1993 firing. Adhikari alleged that Gupta, who was the Home Secretary at the time, had ordered the police to open fire without provocation and claimed that the then Chief Minister had attempted to shield him by suppressing facts.

Congress leaders reiterated that Gupta was the principal figure responsible for the 1993 firing and demanded that he be brought to justice and punished for his alleged role in the incident.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey