Kolkata, Dec 08: Demanding a judicial inquiry into last month's Dalgaon massacre, opposition Trinamool Congress and Congress members today walked out of the West Bengal Assembly dissatisfied with Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee's statement on the incident. The Chief Minister made the statement in reply to a calling attention motion on the massacre of 19 persons at the tea estate in Jalpaiguri district on November 06, but made no mention of a judicial probe, as demanded by the TC, the main opposition.
As the statement also did not touch upon the reported intra-CITU rivalry that culminated in the massacre, TC and Congress members staged a noisy walk out.
They held placards saying that the incident had sullied the image of Bhattacharjee and his government.
The opposition legislators returned to the House shortly afterwards.
In his statement, the Chief Minister said that the Local Tea Garden Mazdoor Union leader, Tarakeswar Lohar, had resorted to malpractices and took bribes for employing outsiders.
Consequently, Lohar was removed from all posts in the CPI(M) and other bodies, he said.
Narrating the incident, which resulted in the burning to death of the 19 persons, Bhattacharjee said Lohar took Rs 50,000 in bribes from three outsiders for employment in the tea garden and had ignored the demand that educated local workers be considered.
The Chief Minister in his statement said that aggrieved workers condemned Lohar's activities at a meeting of the CPI(M) zonal committee at Birpara on October 22 and removed him from leadership.
When the workers assembled before Lohar's house on November 6 and demanded an explanation why three outsiders were recruited despite their objection, Lohar opened fire and disappeared from the spot injuring a local youth, he said. Bureau Report