New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) In West Bengal, where the alleged display of opulence by a political leader once invited mob justice as the police cowered even under a three-decade-old regime, the exhibition of unaccounted wealth is now being subjected to legal process by a government not yet even a week old.
In mid-2009, a video clip depicted the volatility of the time in West Bengal, showing a double-storey building being pulled down by an infuriated mob and set on fire.
The brick-and-mortar house, with its whitewashed façade, stood out like a manicured thumb among a cluster of thatched, mud-walled huts.
It was a typical underdeveloped rural neighbourhood in Dharampur, in the Lalgarh area of West Midnapore district.
In a region of deprivation, where people lacked basic amenities, the structure stood as a symbol of prosperity.
The house was said to belong to the family of Communist Party of India (Marxist) zonal committee secretary Anuj Pandey.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) was the principal constituent of the then-ruling Left Front government.
The incident could have been seen as one of sporadic mob fury against those in power, had it not been for the presence of some masked men with automatic weapons slung on their backs.
It was an “action” following the diktat of a kangaroo court, where Maoist cadres were judge, jury, and executioner.
“Opulent lifestyle of a leader of the masses had to be punished,” they roared, and the house was razed to rubble.
The police force of the then state government dared not venture into areas the Maoists had declared “liberated”, though a curfew was officially imposed in the area.
It was the time when radical insurgents ruled the forested areas in the state’s western parts that connected the “Red Corridor” running from the south of India to the north.
Times have changed; Maoists have been largely eliminated, while the remaining cadres are in disarray, and their kangaroo courts are a story of the past.
However, various reports suggest that political oppression by those in power continued in West Bengal, as did the amassing of illegal wealth.
Now, at least two incidents of opulence have come to light this week.
Unlike the state’s long history of revenge through post-poll violence, these are being probed by law enforcement agencies.
Police in Howrah unearthed a concealed luxury abode behind a trap door in Trinamool Congress leader Shamim Ahmed’s home during a raid over post-poll violence.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government suffered a convincing defeat after 15 years in power, leading to the Bharatiya Janata Party forming its first government in West Bengal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has vowed to uproot corruption as part of its poll promises, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari zealously pursuing the agenda.
Ahmed’s house was found to have expensive furniture, air-conditioned chambers, and other luxury items.
It resembled a boutique hotel rather than the residence of an ordinary political worker, according to reports.
What intrigued the police was reportedly the existence of secret tunnels connecting the underground floors, sparking public curiosity and speculation.
Shamim, reports said, is the husband of former councillor Samima Bano and has been a ward-level leader of the Trinamool Congress.
In a separate raid, police in Pailan, a rural hamlet in Bishnupur, South 24 Parganas district, stumbled upon a sprawling mansion allegedly belonging to Trinamool Congress MLA Dilip Mondal.
The “farmhouse” features a massive swimming pool, a huge lawn with replicas of wild animals, among other luxury amenities.
The raid was conducted following a report of a video allegedly depicting the MLA issuing threats.
He has represented the Bishnupur Assembly seat four times in a row since 2011, when the constituency was created following the delimitation exercise in West Bengal.
Despite widespread and intense opposition to the Trinamool Congress’s past misgovernance and alleged oppression, there has been no significant public reprisal as of the time of writing.
–IANS
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