The row over the presence of the Army near the Chief Minister's Office refused to die down as Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Army was being used as a political tool by the Union government even as the Eastern Command said that the Kolkata Police had agreed to its `routine exercise,' a claim the police denied.
“The Army is being used as a political tool. Whatever they are furnishing is misinformation and lies. They are presenting a concocted story. The Army never took the permission from the state government. The home secretary has written to the Centre to withdraw the Army from the districts. If the Army is not withdrawn, we will take legal action,“ Banerjee said on Friday, while leaving the Chief Minister's Office after 48 hours. She alleged that the state was being targeted since she was raising her voice for the people. “In the name of black money , Modi babu has adopted a new tactic. BJP is now going for 50-50 share from hoarders,“ she alleged.“The common man is suffering and dying. This movement will intensify ,“ she added. Trinamool MLAs sat on dharna in front of Raj Bhavan demanding `immediate withdrawal' of the Army. Earlier in the day, the Eastern Command furnished a letter, dated November 24, from the administrative commandant to the Commissioner of Kolkata Police to show that the Army had informed the state government about the `impressment exercise'. “The impressment exercise will be conducted from November 28 to November 30. Care would be taken to ensure that traffic jams are avoided, as much as possible, on the day of exercise,“ the letter said.
It sent another letter to the Principal Secretary , Transport Department, too: “The unit intends to carry out a vehicle impressment exercise at Vidyasagar Sethu toll point... This exercise is carried out to ascertain the availability of vehicles which can be utilised during a national emergency ...“ The toll point is located a quarter km away from the state secretariat, Nabanna. Similar letters were sent to the RTO, West Bengal, commissioner of Howrah city police and other authorities.
However, the Kolkata Police replied to the Army requesting it not to select Vidyasagar Sethu toll gate for the survey . “The proposed place of exercise is a busy and important corridor having huge volume of vehicular traffic connecting the city with other districts and states as also the gateway to Nabanna, the state government secretariat which is a high-security zone.Keeping in view the traffic implications and the security considerations, it is advised not to carry out the exercise in the stretch proposed. You are therefore requested to explore the possibilities of choosing an alternate place/stretch in the city or in the neighbouring commissionerates,“ the joint commissioner of Kolkata Police wrote in the letter. In response, the Army wrote back on November 26: “The exercise is an operational requirement for the Army and has to be carried out in the near vicinity of the Army areas. It will be ensured that the exercise will not in any way disturb the traffic as only half lanes will be used for the impressments.“ The Army further said that the date was changed from November 28 to December 1 as the government recommended.
“We have intimated Kolkata Police and various authorities about the exercise. On receipt of certain observations from the Kolkata Police, on November 27, we held a joint reconnaissance and mutually decided to perform the exercise on a particular location. There has been telephonic conversation between us and the Kolkata Police and we agreed that issue was resolved,“ Major General Sunil Yadav, GoC, HQ, Bengal area said.
“The Army is being used as a political tool. Whatever they are furnishing is misinformation and lies. They are presenting a concocted story. The Army never took the permission from the state government. The home secretary has written to the Centre to withdraw the Army from the districts. If the Army is not withdrawn, we will take legal action,“ Banerjee said on Friday, while leaving the Chief Minister's Office after 48 hours. She alleged that the state was being targeted since she was raising her voice for the people. “In the name of black money , Modi babu has adopted a new tactic. BJP is now going for 50-50 share from hoarders,“ she alleged.“The common man is suffering and dying. This movement will intensify ,“ she added. Trinamool MLAs sat on dharna in front of Raj Bhavan demanding `immediate withdrawal' of the Army. Earlier in the day, the Eastern Command furnished a letter, dated November 24, from the administrative commandant to the Commissioner of Kolkata Police to show that the Army had informed the state government about the `impressment exercise'. “The impressment exercise will be conducted from November 28 to November 30. Care would be taken to ensure that traffic jams are avoided, as much as possible, on the day of exercise,“ the letter said.
It sent another letter to the Principal Secretary , Transport Department, too: “The unit intends to carry out a vehicle impressment exercise at Vidyasagar Sethu toll point... This exercise is carried out to ascertain the availability of vehicles which can be utilised during a national emergency ...“ The toll point is located a quarter km away from the state secretariat, Nabanna. Similar letters were sent to the RTO, West Bengal, commissioner of Howrah city police and other authorities.
However, the Kolkata Police replied to the Army requesting it not to select Vidyasagar Sethu toll gate for the survey . “The proposed place of exercise is a busy and important corridor having huge volume of vehicular traffic connecting the city with other districts and states as also the gateway to Nabanna, the state government secretariat which is a high-security zone.Keeping in view the traffic implications and the security considerations, it is advised not to carry out the exercise in the stretch proposed. You are therefore requested to explore the possibilities of choosing an alternate place/stretch in the city or in the neighbouring commissionerates,“ the joint commissioner of Kolkata Police wrote in the letter. In response, the Army wrote back on November 26: “The exercise is an operational requirement for the Army and has to be carried out in the near vicinity of the Army areas. It will be ensured that the exercise will not in any way disturb the traffic as only half lanes will be used for the impressments.“ The Army further said that the date was changed from November 28 to December 1 as the government recommended.
“We have intimated Kolkata Police and various authorities about the exercise. On receipt of certain observations from the Kolkata Police, on November 27, we held a joint reconnaissance and mutually decided to perform the exercise on a particular location. There has been telephonic conversation between us and the Kolkata Police and we agreed that issue was resolved,“ Major General Sunil Yadav, GoC, HQ, Bengal area said.
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