Brutal assault on three Sadhus in Bengal’s Purulia triggers huge outrage, BJP says ‘Crime to be Hindu in Bengal’.

Could not possible to go to Gangasagar, the persecuted Sadhus in Purulia returned to Uttar Pradesh with fear. 12 arrested over brutal attack on Sadhus in Bengal as BJP targets Trinamool.

BJP’s National IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya indicated one “Anwar Sheikh, a TMC goonda and civic volunteer with the West Bengal police, is behind the attack”.

Sankirtan Das | HENB | Kolkata | Jan 13, 2024:: In a chilling reminder of Palghar  lynching in  Maharashtra in 2020 where two Sadhus and their driver were killed, Purulia in West Bengal witnessed the same thing in 2024 without any casualty by the grace of God. Twelve persons were arrested on Friday for allegedly stripping and beating three sadhus, who were going to Ganga Sagar, in West Bengal’s Purulia district on Thursday, police said.

Police said that the incident happened because of some misunderstanding between the sadhus (seers-monks-saints) and three village girls due to difference their in languages. There were five persons going to Gangsagar including three sadhus who were fallen victims of the attack.

“Five persons, including the three sadhus, were travelling in a vehicle. They stopped at a village named Gourangdih. They saw three village girls who were going to a local Kali temple and asked something. There was some misunderstanding because of the language problem and the girls thought the sadhus had come with some bad intention. They started shouting,” Avijit Banerjee, superintendent of police (SP) of Purulia district told the media.

Villagers soon gathered and started manhandling the sadhus. Their vehicle, in which they were travelling, was also damaged.

“We were going to Gangasagar. On the way some people stopped the vehicle. We were heckled and beaten up. The vehicle was also damaged. We would return to our ashram. We can’t go to Ganga Sagar as the vehicle has been damaged,” Madhur Goswami, one of the sadhus, told local media persons.

BJP State President Dr Sukanta Majumder vehemently condemned the attack on Gangasagar bound Sadhus in Purulia. Taking his X handle Dr majumder wrote: “Shocking incident from Purulia; Sadhus en route to Gangasagar were stripped and beaten by criminals linked to TMC, echoing the Palghar tragedy.”

Gangasagar in South 24 Parganas district is located at least 360 km further south from Kashipur in Purulia district where the incident took place.

“We were coming from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. We couldn’t understand the language. Villagers started beating us. Had the police reached the spot a few minutes late, we would have got killed. The girls later came to the police station and apologised,” he added.

Millions of pilgrims would take the holly dip at Ganga Sagar, the confluence of River Ganges and Bay of Bengal, over the next two days to celebrate Makar Sankranti on January 15, the first major Hindu festival in the Gregorian calendar. Ganga Sagar Mela is the second largest assembly of pilgrims in the country after Kumbh Mela.

Police said that the sadhus were initially reluctant to lodge any complaint against the attackers, but police convinced them to lodge a complaint based on which a first information report (FIR) was registered on Friday. The arrested persons were produced before the court on Saturday.

“Five of them were sent to police custody for further interrogation while the rest have been sent to judicial custody by the court,” said an officer.

In one of the videos, an SUV that the sadhus were travelling in was vandalised. Some of the sadhus were stripped naked and beaten up. In one of the videos, a man wearing a police uniform was seen beating up the sadhus with a wodden plank.

The incident snowballed into a major political row on Saturday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) attacking each other.

“Absolutely shocking incident reported from Purulia in West Bengal. In a Palghar kind lynching, sadhus traveling to Gangasagar for Makar Sankranti, were stripped and beaten by criminals, affiliated with the ruling TMC. In Mamata Banerjee’s regime, a terrorist like Shahjahan Sheikh gets state protection and sadhus are being lynched. It is a crime to be a Hindu in West Bengal,” Amit Malviya, BJP’s IT head wrote on his X handle.

“Those who attacked the Sadhus were all Hindus and (a) few from tribal community. 12 people arrested by police so far are all Hindus. No Muslim were involved in the scuffle. Area where the incident happened is a Hindu locality,” Riju Dutta, TMC spokesperson wrote on his X handle.

But, taking his X handle BJP’s National  IT Cell Chief  Amit Malviya indicated one “Anwar Sheikh, a TMC goonda and civic volunteer with the West Bengal police, is behind the attack”.

Police refused to share the names of the accused persons saying that further investigation was going on. A few videos went viral on social media in which the mob could be seen manhandling the sadhus.

“The BJP is spreading propaganda. In one video, one of the sadhus said that they were rescued and helped by the police and there is no political link. There was some misunderstanding because of the language problem. A rumour had spread that they could be kidnappers. Police rushed to the spot and some people were arrested. We respect saints. We would urge the BJP leaders not to engage in such dirty politics,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.

It Could not possible to go to Gangasagar, the persecuted Saudhus in Purulia returned to Uttar Pradesh with fear. BJP MP from Purulia Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato arranged for their return. BJP leaders, activists and supporters participated in the gherao of police station  program in different parts of the district to protest the beating of saints. After Kashipur, BJP protested outside Purulia Sadar police station. The protesters demanded the arrest and punishment of the real accused involved in the beating of Hindu Sadhus. The protest took place outside the main gate of the police station.

One of the victim Sadhus thanked the police and administration for rescuing them from a dangerous situation.

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__Inputs from Agencies and Aaj Tak Bangla.