Temple desecration: SP Rajbeer Singh's effigy burnt, Barak valley bandh today

  Special Correspondent

SILCHAR, Sept 27: In protest against the highhandedness of Rajbeer Singh, SP of Cachar, in arresting BJP MLA and four other leaders as well as uncalled for lathi-charge on peaceful protesters before the police outpost of Tarapur, his effigies were set on fire by workers and supporters before all the police stations and outposts of the district. Besides, BJP has also given call for dawn to dusk bandh in Barak Valley on Monday. The party is also planning to move higher authorities for his transfer from the district who has become a liability for the people.

  Cachar SP Rajbeer Singh, IPS, has become a controversial person since his joining here 2 months back. The way he handled a situation calling for the restrained role of police on Saturday only showed his incompetence. Trapped in his own discomfiture, he apologized publicly for arresting Dilip Paul, MLA, and four other BJP leaders who included Kaushik Rai, district president, Babu Singh, in-charge of rural cell, Rajesh Das, Yuva Morcha president, and Gopal Roy, an important functiory of the party.

  Condemning his uncalled and unwarranted action, Kabindra Purkayastha, former MP and ex Union Minister, said his observation on the sequence of events was quite amazing. The way he arrested MLA and others was unbecoming of an IPS SP. He added to say he was action as subservient to the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. From the security in-charge of Chief Minister, he was rewarded as the SP of a sensitive but peaceful district of Cachar. The arrest of MLA, according to him, was against all cannons of justice, law and civilized society.

  Kaushik Rai, Cachar district president of the party, described SP’s action as smacking of ‘goonda raj’. His language against the MLA to disrobe him was not only most un-parliamentary but also highly derogatory. The people of Cachar have not come across such SP or any police officer of this ilk. Rajbeer Singh is ignorant about rules and laws and is misfit for the post he holds. Publicly, he admitted that he was following the dictates of the Chief Minister in carrying out all the operation. Kaushik Rai cautioned if he is not immediately removed, law and order problem will never improve.

  The SP faulted in every way. It is true the MLA was released, but the damage was already done. His attention was more concentrated as if it were to rein in BJP leaders and workers than to hunt down the culprits behind the desecration of Kalibari temple at Meherpur and defiling lane number 13 of Link Road of the town. The situation that emerged and enveloped could have been tackled discreetly and with farsight. There was neither violence nor any provocative action by the BJP leaders and workers.

  That it was a preplanned plot to hook BJP leaders was more apparent when all of them after coming out of a meeting in the house of Uday Shankar Goswami, a senior functiory of the party, they were arrested by a police team led by ASP Subhasini Shankaran. They were then taken to Tarapur police outpost where Rajbeer Singh was present. As the news spread, hundreds of workers and supporters surrounded the outpost. The CRPF and police were ready to rain down indiscrimite lathi-charge on them, seriously injuring many, not sparing women members. Deepayan Chakraborty, president of Silchar town committee, Rakhi Choudhury, ward commissioner, had to be admitted in Silchar Medical College and Hospital.

  It was his utter ignorance of law, as Kaushik Rai pointed out, the SP took them to the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, but instead of producing them before him, they were taken to M K Das, in-charge District Magistrate, on whose advice, section 107 was slapped against them. He released them immediately which only further brought to the fore the ignorance of law by an IPS officer. This was admitted by Rajbeer Singh himself before the media.

  M K Das at the same time had a dig at the SP for being ignorant of rules and procedure for the arrest of an MLA without the permission of the Speaker of the House. Rajbeer Singh was further criticized for keeping the district administration in the dark about the lathi-charges made by police twice, once in the night of Friday and the following day in the noon. The SP should act in coordition with the district administration at every step when law and order situation arises.

  M K Das has sent a detailed report to the Chief Secretary on the events. In the meantime, the legal cell of advocates have decided to file cases against SP for preventing the lawyers from entering the Court premises. BJP has also filed two cases against him at Tarapur police outpost. The women front of the party has decided to hold protest demonstration before the office of the SP on Tuesday brandishing broomsticks and chappals for humiliating and beating up peaceful female demonstrators before the Tarapur police outpost.