Kolkata: The West Bengal government today
submitted a report to Governor M K Narayanan about the
accident at Kolaghat in which a truck hit a car of Railway
Minister Mamata Banerjee`s convoy.
"We gave him a report about the incident as sought by
him," Home Secretary Samar Ghosh told reporters after holding
an hour-long meeting with Narayanan.
"Our report was based on inputs received from the DIG and
East Midnapore superintendent of police. As soon as we got
information that the minister would halt near a hotel while
returning from Lalgarh, we immediately made police
arrangements," he said.
The Home secretary said it was the general custom that
VIPs leave the rally ground first after it ends and the people
some time later.
"But that day, she left the venue much later and
presumably, her convoy was stuck in jam as a result," he said.
He said the CID was investigating the case and as per
preliminary report, a truck swerved and entered the the
minister`s convoy after brake failure.
Ghosh said the governor was told of security measures
taken for the Railway Minister when she went to Lalgarh to
address a rally.
Asked why the government allowed the rally of the
Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind leader Siddiquallah at Lalgarh on the same
day, he said it was permitted as the timing was different and
the two rallies would not clash.
Yesterday, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee called
on the Governor and was believed to have discussed law and
order situation, political violence, the Maoist problem
and the accident.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee met
the Governor and complained to him that the accident was an
attempt on the Railway Minister`s life.
The Home Secretary was accompanied by IGP (Law and Order)
S Karpurakayastha, ADG (IB) Naparajit Mukherjee and Director
(Security) A K Maliwal.
A truck hit a car of Banerjee`s convoy on Monday night at
Kolaghat bridge in East Midnapore district when she was
returning to the city after her meeting in Maoist-affected
Lalgarh.
-PTI
