Ranaghat: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that arms are being smuggled from Bihar and across international borders to create unrest in north Bengal with an intention to divide the state.
She alleged that vehicles belonging to VIPs, with tinted glass, are being used to smuggle arms and money into West Bengal, while directing the police to increase 'naka-checking' to prevent such attempts.
"Arms from Bihar and across the international borders are being smuggled into West Bengal to create unrest in the northern parts and divide the state. We have to tackle this. I ask you to increase naka-checking," Banerjee told officials during an administrative review meeting here.
"These people hailing from outside West Bengal are taking advantage of coming in VIP vehicles...they are carrying arms and money. They are conspiring to create disturbances in our state," the Trinamool Congress supremo said.
Reacting sharply to Ms Banerjee's statement, BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya alleged that the TMC's name is associated with all weapon seizures in the state.
"If weapons are entering West Bengal, then who is responsible for that? The police and administration of the state should prevent this from happening. The name of Trinamool Congress is associated with all arms seizures in the state," he said.
CPI(M) leader Shamik Lahiri said that the chief minister should furnish statistics to support her claims.
"If her claims are true, the people of the state would want to know how many weapons have been seized and how many people arrested?" he said.
Senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya described the chief minister's allegation as "very serious" and wanted to know whether the state government has informed the Centre about it.
"This is a serious allegation. If this is true, then has the chief minister informed the Centre? And if the Union government has been informed, then the people of West Bengal have the right to know what measures have been taken. Only then it will be understood that the complaint is not being made for the sake of politics," Bhattacharya said.
Incidentally, last week, Greater Cooch Behar movement leader Ananta Rai had claimed that the formation of a Union Territory of Cooch Behar was only a matter of time.
A section of BJP leaders from north Bengal, including Alipurduar MP John Barla, Matigara-Naxalbari MLA Anandamoy Barman and Dabgram-Phulbari legislator Shikha Chatterjee, has been demanding that a Union Territory be carved out of the state.
The TMC has asserted that it would never allow the division of West Bengal.
North Bengal, which comprises eight districts including picturesque Darjeeling, is economically significant for the state as it is home to the revenue-generating tea, timber and tourism industries. However, the region has witnessed several violent statehood movements since the 1980s by ethnic groups such as Gorkhas, Rajbanshis, Kochs and Kamatapuris.
Without making any reference to state BJP leaders' claim that "something big" is likely to happen in the state in December, Banerjee directed officials to keep a strict vigil.
"Keep a strict vigil in communally sensitive areas in the state as some people are planning to incite communal flare-ups from December. You (TMC leaders) have to stop them. It is a challenge for us," she said.
BJP leaders have been claiming that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is likely to be implemented by December.
Meanwhile, BJP workers, including Ranaghat MP Jagannath Sarkar, staged a protest in Ranaghat stating that no people's representative belonging to the saffron party was invited to the administrative meeting chaired by Banerjee.
BJP activists took out a rally and wanted to proceed towards the venue where the chief minister was present. However, the police stopped the procession leading to a scuffle between the two sides.
The police detained Sarkar and several other leaders, and released them after some time.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)