Told chief secretary to investigate if I grabbed land, says Mamata Banerjee
"If there is a single allegation against any member of my family of illegally occupying land or property, then that member of my family will be answerable,” the chief minister said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat. (Express photo)
Two days after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Calcutta High Court seeking a probe into the assets of the brothers of Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday said that she has ordered Chief Secretary Hari Krishna Dwivedi to probe whether she had encroached upon any government property or land, or helped someone in her family in doing so.
“I have asked the state chief secretary to conduct an independent investigation. If there is a single allegation against any member of my family of illegally occupying land or property, then that member of my family will be answerable,” the chief minister told mediapersons after holding a high-level meeting of senior officials and ministers at the secretariat.
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The secretary of the state land department was also present in the meeting, sources said.
“If you (chief secretary) investigate, and find that any such land or property has been encroached upon, or I have helped someone to do so, then immediately investigate and demolish it (the illegal structure) with a bulldozer. You don’t need my permission for it,” she added.
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
