Kolkata: West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari had a narrow escape on Friday afternoon after a speeding truck barged into his convoy while he was returning to Kolkata from his ancestral residence in East Midnapore district.
The incident took place at Marisda in East Midnapore and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) escort vehicle was damaged severely. Fortunately, no one was injured. The driver of the truck is absconding and according to the district administration, all police stations in the district have been alerted.
After initial interrogation, the local police informed media persons that the excessive speed of the truck, that was coming from the opposition direction was the reason of the accident, as the driver lost control and hit the convoy of the Leader of the Opposition.
However, a political spat between the ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP has already started over the incident. Amit Malviya, th national convener of the BJP’s IT cell, has, in a tweet, hinted at some kind of foul play behind this accident.
“Nothing in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal is a coincidence. If a random vehicle can ram into an escort car of a protected individual, one can only imagine how safe anyone else is in West Bengal,” Malviya’s Twitter message read.
Reacting to Malviya’s message, Trinamool state General Secretary and spokesman Kunal Ghosh said his party wishes a very good health to Adhikari. “No one in Trinamool Congress wants him to face any accident. If he is not fit, how will he be able to face consequences of landing up behind the bars ultimately,” Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, there was another controversy over an allegation that one of the CRPF jawans in the convoy, after the accident, had hit a driver of the bus, following which the latter had to be hospitalised. Confirming the development, a senior police officer of East Midnapore said that this matter will be looked into as well, once an official complaint is filed on this count.
–IANS