New Delhi, March 10
Home minister Shivraj Patil said today that action would be initiated against those involved in yesterday’s attack on the CPM headquarters.
Responding to concerns of members in the Rajya Sabha over yesterday’s violence, he said anybody who had committed the crime would be proceeded against.
Though he did not agree to BJP’s demand for action against Left-ruled Kerala, Patil said the Centre would talk to the state government on the political violence, which had led to the death of seven workers of the RSS and the CPM. He said while the Centre would hold talks with the state government, it was not possible for it to start an inquiry into the incidents.
Rejecting allegations that the Delhi Police was acting in a partisan manner against BJP and RSS leaders, he said the police would work by the due process of law.
He said the attack on the CPM office yesterday left 24 persons injured, including 10 members of the CPM, three of the BJP, eight policemen and three others. Three cars were also damaged.
Patil said 14 persons, including six municipal councillors, were arrested.
He said 200 persons had gathered at the Hindu Mahasabha Bhawan without permission and about 40 persons went to the CPM headquarters in cars from different directions. The mob later increased to 150 and the police had to send additional force to bring the
situation under control, he added.
The Left members alleged that the attack was engineered by the RSS and the BJP. Countering the allegation, BJP members said the root cause of the incident was violence against their cadres in Kerala, against which a peaceful protest was being held. The House was adjourned for half-an-hour after Question Hour following noisy scenes and heated exchanges between BJP and CPM members over yesterday’s violence.
Talking to media persons later, CPM leader Rupchand Pal rejected BJP’s demand for a judicial probe into yesterday’s clashes and violence, saying it was a baseless plea and the Opposition was making such demands out of frustration.
He said it was clear that BJP and RSS workers were behind the attack and people who were present saw everything.
Describing yesterday’s incident as unprecedented and shameful, he said it was not just an attack on a party’s headquarters but on parliamentary democracy.
