Kolkata, Oct 16 (IANS) A group of Trinamool Congress leaders Friday staged a demonstration in front of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s office here demanding his arrest for allegedly masterminding political violence across the state.
The sit-in in front of the state secretariat Writers’ Buildings was led by leader of the opposition in the state assembly Partha Chattopadhyay.

The agitation began minutes after the chief minister left the secretariat for home for lunch at around 1.15 p.m.

“We demand immediate arrest of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for instigating political violence in the state. We’ll not withdraw our demonstration till he (the chief minister) is arrested,” Chattopadhyay said, protesting against the “objectionable comment” by a former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP Anil Basu in a public rally in Hooghly district’s Khanakul area Thursday evening.

“Basu directed the police to arrest Trinamool supporters. If a former CPI-M Lok Sabha member can give such directives to the police, why will the police not arrest the chief minister, who is also the home minister of the state, responding to the demand of public and opposition parties?

“We want immediate action against Anil Basu for his comment as he is not a part of the state administration. How come he gives instructions to the police,” Chattopadhyay asked.

Meanwhile, a large contingent of Kolkata’s armed policemen were deployed in front of Bhattacharjee’s office to prevent any ugly turn of events.

Kolkata Police Joint Commissioner (Headquarters) Jawed Shamim and Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) Damayanti Sen also went to Writers’ Building to bring the situation under control.

According to sources, a request has also been made to the Trinamool leaders on behalf of the state administration to withdraw the demonstration. But Chattopadhyay turned down the proposal.