Cooch Behar firing: Central forces could have shot dead more than 4 people, says BJP’s Rahul Sinha

Kolkata: A day after Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh courted controversy as he warned of more Cooch Behar-like killings, another senior leader of the party, Rahul Sinha, said on Monday that the central forces if deemed fit, could have shot dead more than four persons in the district in its bid to thwart attempts of vote-rigging. Ghosh had on Sunday said more Cooch Behar-like killings may happen in the next phase of assembly elections if “naughty boys like the ones who died in Sitalkuchi” try to take the law into their hands. Sinha, who was in the Habra area of North 24 Parganas, told reporters, “Miscreants sheltered by TMC supremo (Mamata Banerjee) are shooting innocent BJP supporters in polling booths. Her goons are taking away the voting rights of the common people. The central forces did the right thing by opening fire on these miscreants.” He further went on to say that “the central forces, in its effort to stop rigging, could have shot dead more than four maybe seven or eight - if necessary”. His remarks drew sharp reactions from various political parties. The TMC boss, without naming Sinha, said at a public meeting, “A BJP leader has said eight people should have been shot dead by the central forces on Saturday. I condemn this statement. Such leaders should be banned from politics.” Urging the Election Commission to take note of the remarks made by Ghosh and Sinha, CPI(M) candidate from Jadavpur Sujan Chakraborty said, “These comments reflect the fascist nature of the BJP. The poll panel should initiate action against these leaders for such irresponsible comments.” Chakraborty also claimed that “certain statements made by Banerjee are also triggering violence in the poll-bound state, and fanning the flames of polarisation”.