Suvendu Adhikari, Bengal BJP MLAs Stopped On Way To Violence-Hit Sandeshkhali

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and several other party MLAs were stopped from visiting Bengal's violence-hit Sandeshkhali this afternoon, with the police citing prohibitory orders clamped in the area.

Earlier in the day, six BJP legislators, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the state assembly for protests in the House over unrest in Sandeshkhali in the state's North 24 Parganas district.

After being suspended, Mr Adhikari and other BJP MLAs boarded a bus to meet the locals of Sandeshkhali, who have alleged sexual harassment by missing Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters.

“The authorities stopped us at Basanti Highway citing prohibitory orders and a letter by the Basirhat police superintendent claiming that my visit to Sandeshkhali might lead to law and order problems in the area,” Mr Adhikari said.

“This is absurd. How can I be stopped 65 km away from Sandeshkhali citing law and order problems? We condemn this attempt by the state government to suppress the truth,” he said.

A large number of women in Sandeshkhali have been protesting for the last few days, alleging that Sheikh Shajahan and his "gang" captured swathes of land by force, besides sexually harassing them.

They demanded the arrest of Shajahan who has been missing since last month after a team of the Enforcement Directorate that went to raid his house in an alleged ration scam was attacked by a mob.