Durgapur (West Bengal) [India], January 18 (ANI): BJP leader Locket Chatterjee has slammed the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of creating situations to stop the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, after violence erupted during the protests over the lynching of a migrant worker from West Bengal in Jharkhand.
Addressing reporters on Saturday, Chatterjee said that the situation in the state was getting worse as protesters blocked the National Highway 43, connecting North Bengal to South Bengal for 5-6 hours on Saturday.
“The situation in Beldanga is very dangerous…The connection between North Bengal and South Bengal (National Highway 34) has been cut. Yesterday the mob blocked the road for 5-6 hours…” she said.
She highlighted a disturbing incident of a woman journalist who was physically assaulted while covering the protests. The BJP MLA also claimed that the police, which was present at the spot id not intervene to help her when the mob attacked her.
“A woman journalist, who went to cover the situatio,n was also attacked. She was thrown on the road and beaten… It was something that we saw in Bangladesh. Her cameraman, Ranjit, was also attacked. She ty is currently receiving treatment at the hospital. Surprisingly, there were police in the area, but the journalist kept asking for their intervention, but they did not help her. They just stood there and watched how the mob mistreated the woman…” she said.
“She tried to flee in a toto, but even it was stopped by the mob. She was luckily rescued by someone. The police haven’t taken any action, citing that there is no order whatsoever,” she added.
The BJP leader, in a straight attack on the West Bengal Chief Minister, has been allegedly creating such critical situations in order to halt the SIR process.
She said that the state government has not taken any action against the police present there, who did not help the journalist while she was being abused, underlining her remarks, stating there had been no need for the female journalist to go so close to such an escalating situation.
“Bengal loves their daughters, but in 2026, a woman faced torture. CM Mamata Banerjee did not even give any statement and in fact said that there was no need to go near the spot… Nothing happened to the mob, and the woman was blamed. The law and order situation in the state has completely deteriorated…” she said.
Chatterjee said that the CM is allegedly creating a situation to stop the SIR process, as it will enrol the names of eligible voters from the Rohingya in the list.
“Mamata Banerjee has understood that many Rohingya people’s names are being added to the list in SIR, that’s why she is creating a situation to stop the process… But don’t worry, it won’t stop, and all the names that are supposed to be added will add in the list. We will provide citizenship to the Hindus, and only they will be able to vote,” she stated.
Her remarks came amid continued unrest in the Beldanga area of Murshidabad district, where protests broke out over the alleged murder of Alauddin Sheikh, a Bengali migrant worker, in Jharkhand.
On Friday, Sheikh’s family members and local residents blocked National Highway 12 and disrupted rail traffic by setting tyres ablaze on tracks under the Sealdah railway division at Beldanga as part of the protest.
Violence continued on Saturday, with protesters from the Beldanga Block Road blocking roads and demanding justice for the deceased labourer. Security forces were deployed in the area to restore normalcy and prevent further escalation. (ANI)