'Not the time for vulture politics…': Bengali minister criticises opposition over bribery allegations against state police in Kolkata rape and murder case | News from India

NEW DELHI: The controversial Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal on Thursday asked the opposition parties in the state not to play “vulture politics over a dead body” as they have done several times in the past. The Mamata Banerjee government was responding to allegations that the state police tried to bribe the parents of a doctor-in-training who was raped and murdered in Kolkata's hospital. RG Kar Hospital She warned the opposition against putting pressure on the victim's family for political gain.
“There are many fake videos circulating. Yesterday, one such video went viral. We stand in solidarity with the victim's family and they are going through a difficult time. A video has surfaced in which the police have offered them money to thwart the case. Another video has surfaced in which the parents have called the video fake. We all want justice. We want the political parties not to extend their pressure on the family and take political advantage of it. We have seen in the past how the opposition parties have played vulture politics over dead bodies. We want to appeal to them that this is not the time for such politics. We all are together in pursuit of justice,” the West Bengal minister said. Shashi Panja said.
The victim's family, who joined the protest outside RG Kar Hospital on Wednesday evening, accused the police of trying to offer them money as they sat crying next to their daughter's remains. “When the daughter's body was lying in front of the parents in the house, the police offered money. Is this humane?” the deceased doctor's aunt had said yesterday.
The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, accused the BJP of worsening the suffering of the victim's parents by politicising the issue. “The BJP is not seeking justice, but is only trying to use the tragedy for political purposes,” the minister said. Panja stressed that the victim's parents were only seeking justice and urged that politics should not interfere in this pursuit.
“When everyone is crying for justice, including the Trinamool Congress, politics should not play a role. We want speedy justice and exemplary punishment for the perpetrator or perpetrators,” Panja said, adding that the CBI is currently investigating the case and the Supreme Court has taken cognizance of the incident on its own initiative.
The Trinamool Congress also questioned the delay in the investigation by the CBI, which is probing the case on the directions of the Calcutta High Court. West Bengal Education Minister and senior TMC leader Bratya Basu said though the Calcutta Police handed over all relevant documents to the CBI 23 days ago, there has been no significant progress or communication from the agency. He questioned the CBI's lack of transparency and the BJP's allegations of tampering with evidence.
“The BJP has alleged that evidence was tampered with. We want to know what evidence was tampered with. Why is the CBI silent?” he asked.
The BJP, however, hit back and accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of accusing her police of spreading false news. “Earlier, the Kolkata Police had sent summons to people claiming that they were spreading false news. Now we can see that the Kolkata Police itself has spread false news about the renovation work that was done in the hospital immediately after the incident. To find out the truth, the Chief Minister should be questioned first. It was an organised crime and Sandip Ghosh has big names involved,” said BJP leader Locket Chatterjee. The party has been keeping up the pressure on the West Bengal government and demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
(With contributions from agencies)