Kolkata, 08 July (H.S.) : CPI(M) leader Meenakshi Mukherjee on Wednesday sought permission to move the Calcutta High Court over the alleged egg attack on her vehicle at Sitalkuchi in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district, urging judicial intervention to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

The matter was mentioned before the single bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya by Mukherjee's counsel, Abhishek Halder. The counsel informed the court that Mukherjee's vehicle was targeted with eggs on Tuesday while she was returning after meeting the family members of a deceased party worker in Sitalkuchi. He submitted that the court's intervention was necessary to ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future.

Justice Bhattacharyya permitted the filing of the petition and observed that the matter would be taken up for hearing in accordance with the prescribed procedure once all formalities were completed.

Mukherjee had travelled to Sitalkuchi on Tuesday to meet the family of CPI(M) worker Montu Miyan, whose death under suspicious circumstances two days earlier has triggered political controversy. The CPI(M) has alleged that Miyan's family believes he was murdered and claimed that the police initially refused to register their complaint before eventually accepting it.

According to the party, while Mukherjee's vehicle was passing through the Sitalkuchi market after the meeting, unidentified persons repeatedly hurled eggs at the car. Former MP Alokesh Das was also travelling in the vehicle at the time of the incident.

Mukherjee Alleges BJP Role, Accuses Police of Inaction

Following the incident, Mukherjee alleged that BJP workers were behind the attack and accused the police of remaining passive spectators. She also livestreamed the incident on social media, where eggs could be seen striking the windshield of her vehicle.

Later, she reached the office of the Superintendent of Police in Cooch Behar, submitted a written complaint and staged a sit-in protest. She alleged that despite lodging the complaint, no arrests had been made.

Questioning the law and order situation, Mukherjee said, Is it no longer possible to travel on the roads with dignity and security? Is this the rule of law?

She also announced that the CPI(M) would soon organise a demonstration outside the District Magistrate's office, protesting the alleged negligence in handling Montu Miyan's death as well as the delay in bringing back the body of a migrant worker from Sitalkuchi who had died while working in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, BJP's Cooch Behar district president Abhijit Barman denied any involvement of his party in the incident. He said the BJP had no connection with the egg attack and argued that if any individual had thrown eggs out of anger, the party could not be held responsible. He accused the CPI(M) of attempting to blame the BJP for every incident for political reasons.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh