Mamata Banerjee was injured suring a visit to Nandigram on March 10.
New Delhi:
The Election Commission on Sunday may announce its decision on the alleged attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier this week.
The Election Commission has received two reports – one from the state administration and the other from poll observers – on the incident in West Bengal’s Nandigram.
The second report – by poll observers – was submitted on Saturday evening after the election body called the one submitted a day earlier by the state administration “sketchy” and asked it to furnish a detailed one.
The two poll observers, in their report, had said that the incident in Bengal’s Nandigram was an accident and not a planned attack, news agency PTI reported quoting a source at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office.
“The incident was not a planned attack but an accident. It had taken place suddenly”, PTI reported quoting the source.
The incident took place at Birulia bazar in Nandigram in East Midnapore district on March 10 after Ms Banerjee filed her nomination.
The injury to the chief minister was due to the suddenness of the incident, the report – prepared by special observer Ajay Nayak and special police observer Vivek Dubey to West Bengal – reportedly said.
“There was no conspiracy behind the incident,” the report said.
The report took into account the details provided by eye witnesses present during the incident as well as the video grabs collected from them.
It also referred to the failure of the police personnel in-charge of the chief minister’s security detail in controlling the crowd which came “too close” to her.
Following the Nandigram incident, state Additional Director General (ADG) of police (Law and Order) and nodal officer Jagmohan on Saturday directed all district administrations to arrange for strictest security measures for the chief minister during her campaign tours in the districts for the eight-phase poll beginning on March 27.
“Security measures should be stringent for the Chief Minister. Security for other star campaigners must be tightened. We cannot take any chances after the Nandigram incident,” the source at the CEO office said, quoting Jagmohan.
State chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, in a reply to the Election Commission for a detailed report, had stated that the cause of the incident at Nandigram was “not clear from the video grab” collected from the place.
“The chief minister’s vehicle was passing through a crowded area when there was a push to the door of her car. But it’s not clear whether the push was deliberate or not. The video grabs collected are not very clear,” a source at the CEO said quoting Mr Bandopadhyay’s second report.
The chief secretary was learnt to have attached one video grab along with the report, he added.
With inputs from PTI