West Bengal minister 'gheraoed' for 8 hours

Rampurhat, Sept 2: Call it a misunderstanding, but the

Animal Resources Minister Nure Alam Chowdhury had to pay the price for it. Assaulted and kept hostage for 8 hours in a college, the

could not be rescued before 8pm on Sunday at Rampurhat.

He was not even allowed to be taken to the hospital. A former High court judge, he could be released after a long negotiation with the mosque authorities who thought he had come to pull down the mosque.

The minister, who is MLA from Murarai in the district, was released at 8 pm after a prolonged negotiation meeting attended by the district administration, authorities of the college and the mosque.

Additional District Magistrate Bidhan Roy, who was in the negotiation meeting said, "It has been decided to hold a meeting in Suri on September 8 to sort out the problem."

The dispute dates back to a few years back when the mosque had encroached into a land, owned by a trust headed by Chowdhury at Dokhalbati village, situated on the outskirts of Rampurhat where the Asleha Girls' College is situated.

The college authorities circulated a leaflet that the minister is coming down to the campus for a meeting to prevent anti-social activities. On his arrival and after the meeting got over, the minister was 'gheraoed' and assaulted. It is alleged that this was because of an announcement by the public address system that the minister had come down to demolish the mosque.

Police force had reached the spot to rescue to the minister as the mob grew, but they did not take any action to avoid any law and order situation. Furthermore, the mob ransacked the building, setting fire on the furniture and the computers.

OneIndia News