Surjya meets activist's widow

HOWRAH: Pratima Dutta had to return from Writers' Buildings every time she tried to meet law minister Moloy Ghatak or industries minister Partha Chatterjee. On Friday, she found a Left Front parliamentary delegation at her home, led by opposition leader Surjya Kanta Mishra.
Pratima's husband Tapan Dutta, a Trinamool Congress leader-turned-green activist, was murdered on May 6, 2011, when he was spearheading a movement to resist the illegal filling up of a 750-acre wetland - Jaipur Bil - at Bali-Jagachha.Mishra made a strong pitch for Pratima and her family's security in the face of repeated threats.
The political overtones of Mishra's visit weren't apparent till Trinamool Congress flag-bearers started circling the vehicles of the senior Left Front MLAs, shouting slogans against Mishra. It soon took the tenor of "Mishra go back" shouts. The Left leaders' steadfast refusal to budge led to palpable tension, but it was cut short after a huge police force reached the spot, prompting the protesters to disperse.
After speaking to the Dutta family - Pratima, her two daughters and mother-in-law - Mishra said: "The family is under threat. Her youngest daughter, a final year graduation student, cannot go to college in fear. We do not want to bring politics into it. We only demand that they should be left to live in peace."
Pratima told the Left MLAs that they were "being constantly threatened to drop the court case". When asked by reporters why she, a local Trinamool Congress panchayat member, sought the help of Left Front, Pratima said: "I have written three letters to the chief minister seeking an appointment. None was granted. I then tried to meet Partha Chatterjee, but couldn't. Then I tried to meet Moloy Ghatak. I was promised an appointment, but later declined. I returned from Writers every time."
She admitted that police had given her guard, but she feared it would be withdrawn any moment. "Once, I was surrounded by a gang of bikers at Jaipur Bil, despite having this security. Now I fear that my security would be withdrawn any moment.
If it is, I am finished," she said.
Pratima claimed that in the original chargesheet filed by the CID, it was said that "there was long-standing enmity between the deceased and some Trinamool leaders of the area over the filling up of Suti canal and Haral canal and other two canals for Anmol South City Project - a joint collaboration (real estate project) with the state government. The deceased had formed an organisation called Jalabhumi Bachao Committee to prevent the filling up of ponds. The other Trinamool leaders of the area, including a state minister, had tried to influence the deceased by offering money and other means, but failed. The opponents then formed a syndicate".
In the supplementary chargesheet filed on September 26, 2011, the CID stated: "There is no evidence against some crucial persons, including the minister." The first chargesheet was filed when the Mamata Banerjee government was firmly in the saddle. She has since filed a petition in Calcutta high court seeking a CBI inquiry into the matter.
Agriculture marketing minister Arup Roy said: "If she is not convinced with the police chargesheert, it is not the end, but the beginning of a long legal process.
She will have enough opportunity to argue her case in court. It is up to the court to decide. It is her fundamental right to demand a CBI inquiry. If the court is convinced by her plea, it will allow so. How can I comment when matters are already being heard in court?