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MIDNAPORE: A farmer from the former Maoist stronghold of West Midnapore village landed in jail on Saturday for putting uncomfortable questions to chief minister Mamata Banerjee at a public meeting at Belpahari. Hours after the meeting, police charged him with non-bailable offences such as criminal intimidation, the maximum punishment for which is death.
Police started sniffing at his "criminal intent" when the bus conductor-turned-farmer, Shiladitya Chowdhury, broke through a security barrier at the meeting grounds on August 8 to give vent to his anger over rising fertilizer prices. Cheered by hundreds, Chowdhury, a villager from Nayagram, asked the CM why heavy input costs were not being curbed. To which Mamata's reply was, "He is a crooked man, a Maoist who has come all the way from Jharkhand."
Farmer arrested while tilling his land
Chowdhury's question assumed criminal proportions soon after Mamata Banerjee pointed at the man and gave him a Maoist tag. "Marxists and Maoists are out to disrupt this gathering," she announced. Cops immediately herded the suspect to the back of the stage. When lensmen rushed to take his photograph, the CM shouted over the microphone. "Don't take his photograph. He is a wicked fellow."
Chowdhury was let off with a warning after cops questioned him on that day but policemen reached Nayagram at dusk on Friday and arrested him while he was tilling his one and a half bigha land. The Belpahari police inspector said he had fled from the meeting spot on August 8, following a scuffle with the police.
Cops have initiated a case against Chowdhury under non-bailable IPC sections ¡ª 447, 353, 332 and 506. "The accused hadentered into the high security zone with mala fide intention and tried to create a ruckus. When the police went to arrest himon that day, he fled after a scuffle," the Belpahari police said. Additional chief judicial magistrate Suparna Das on Saturday remanded the accused in judicial custody for a fortnight.
Chowdhury's lawyer Aswini Das was taken aback with the police version in Jhargram court. "How could a person escape from the high security zone breaking the security ring?" Das said. The lawyer submitted that policemen slapped the accused while they questioned him at the back of the dais on that day. Even DIG (Midnapore range) L N Meena parried questions from the media about the statusof the accused rounded up from the meeting spot.
The arrest has put the family in deep trouble. "My son is not into politics. He was a bus conductor and quit the job after he fell ill. He took to farming, the only source of livelihood for our family. We don't know what is his offence," said Chowdhury's mother Khukumani.
Farmer in jail for questioning Didi - Times Of India
Police started sniffing at his "criminal intent" when the bus conductor-turned-farmer, Shiladitya Chowdhury, broke through a security barrier at the meeting grounds on August 8 to give vent to his anger over rising fertilizer prices. Cheered by hundreds, Chowdhury, a villager from Nayagram, asked the CM why heavy input costs were not being curbed. To which Mamata's reply was, "He is a crooked man, a Maoist who has come all the way from Jharkhand."
Farmer arrested while tilling his land
Chowdhury's question assumed criminal proportions soon after Mamata Banerjee pointed at the man and gave him a Maoist tag. "Marxists and Maoists are out to disrupt this gathering," she announced. Cops immediately herded the suspect to the back of the stage. When lensmen rushed to take his photograph, the CM shouted over the microphone. "Don't take his photograph. He is a wicked fellow."
Chowdhury was let off with a warning after cops questioned him on that day but policemen reached Nayagram at dusk on Friday and arrested him while he was tilling his one and a half bigha land. The Belpahari police inspector said he had fled from the meeting spot on August 8, following a scuffle with the police.
Cops have initiated a case against Chowdhury under non-bailable IPC sections ¡ª 447, 353, 332 and 506. "The accused hadentered into the high security zone with mala fide intention and tried to create a ruckus. When the police went to arrest himon that day, he fled after a scuffle," the Belpahari police said. Additional chief judicial magistrate Suparna Das on Saturday remanded the accused in judicial custody for a fortnight.
Chowdhury's lawyer Aswini Das was taken aback with the police version in Jhargram court. "How could a person escape from the high security zone breaking the security ring?" Das said. The lawyer submitted that policemen slapped the accused while they questioned him at the back of the dais on that day. Even DIG (Midnapore range) L N Meena parried questions from the media about the statusof the accused rounded up from the meeting spot.
The arrest has put the family in deep trouble. "My son is not into politics. He was a bus conductor and quit the job after he fell ill. He took to farming, the only source of livelihood for our family. We don't know what is his offence," said Chowdhury's mother Khukumani.
Farmer in jail for questioning Didi - Times Of India
