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Journalism of Courage
Amid protests over the gangrapes of two minor girls in Tripura and Opposition accusations of a minister’s son having a role in one of them, police said Friday that there was no question of sparing anyone guilty.
“So far six people have been arrested in the Kumarghat case and two in the Kalyanpur case. Everything is under investigation… We are going through all evidence. If there is further evidence, appropriate action will be taken,” assistant inspector-general (law and order) Jyotishman Das Chowdhury told reporters.
Asked about the alleged involvement of Labour Minister Bhagaban Das’s son in the Kumarghat gangrape, assistant inspector-general Subrata Chakraborty, who accompanied Chowdhury, said the FIR had initially named only two accused and that four more were arrested on the basis of the interrogation of the duo. “We have to act on the basis of available evidence. If there is evidence, certainly no stone will be left unturned,” he said.
The ruling BJP has defended the minister’s son and alleged that a deep-rooted conspiracy was hatched by the Opposition to malign the minister and the government. In a media briefing, the party released CCTV footage seeking to prove the minister’s son was elsewhere when the crime took place.
However, Opposition parties alleged that police were under political pressure to shield the minister’s son. Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman expressed distrust in the CCTV footage and wanted police to check the mobile-tower location of the minister’s son on the date of the incident. “The footage is a part of a plan—to reset the time and date on the footage and accuse Opposition parties of levelling false allegations… The minister’s son, panchayat upa pradhan and panchayat members’ husbands are getting involved in rape cases. They are not above the law. We fear this evidence is doctored and want the mobile-tower location to be examined,”he said.
For his part, minister Das dismissed the allegations saying haathi chale bazaar, kutta bhauke hazaar (elephant walks tall in the market, dogs bark in thousands). “They (Opposition) don’t have any other issue (to raise). Besides, our party has held a press conference and police have issued a press release. The investigation is going on. Let the truth come out. We will speak after that,” he added.
TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma visited the gangrape survivor’s home at Kalyanpur in Khowai district. He said he had talked to police officials about the case and hoped that the culprits would not be spared.
Pradyot, whose party rules the tribal council, urged political parties not to interfere in the investigation.
