Kolkata: The National Commission of Women (NCW) has asked the West Bengal Police to take strong and immediate action against party Trinamool Congress’ former district president in Birbhum, Anubrata Mondal, over a viral audio clip where he was heard threatening a police officer to rape the latter’s mother and wife.
The commission, at the same time, has asked the office of the state Director General of Police, Rajeev Kumar, to submit a report to the NCW within 72 hours from the time of receipt of a communique.
The main complaint against the Birbhum District Police in connection with the viral audio clip is that, despite registering a case against Mondal, the cops have yet to take any strong action against him, except questioning him once on Thursday afternoon.
Amid these complaints against the district police for going soft on Mondal despite the victim of the abuse being a cop himself, the NCW had written a strongly worded letter to DGP Kumar seeking clarification.
“The National Commission for Women expresses deep concern over the apparent inaction by the state police in this matter, despite clear and widespread public outrage. This inaction not only emboldens such repeat offenders but also deeply undermines the morale of the police force and shakes public confidence in the neutrality and responsiveness of law enforcement agencies. You are aware that Mr Mondal has a long and well-documented history of intimidation, criminal conduct, and corruption, including arrest and custody by the CBI in previous cases,” the NCW letter to DGP Kumar read.
According to the NCW, it was shocking that even in the face of such clear evidence and a past criminal background, no effective or deterrent legal action has yet been initiated by the state police.
“If a senior police officer’s family can be subjected to such abuse without consequence, what message does it send to the rest of the citizenry, particularly women,” the NCW letter mentioned
Mondal was arrested in August 2022 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the multi-crore cattle-smuggling case in West Bengal. Later, he was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). After spending over two years in Tihar Jail in New Delhi, Mondal was released on bail recently, following which he returned to his house in Bolpur of Birbhum district.
Meanwhile, after the video went viral, CBI also started a fresh investigation to find out whether any witness in the cattle-smuggling case had been similarly intimidated either by Mondal or any of his associates to change their statements given to the central agency in the case.
(IANS)
