Bengal's shame: Trinamool MLA threatens to behead Congress leader

In another display of the politics of threat in West Bengal, a ruling Trinamool Congress Member of Legislative Assembly openly threatened to 'behead' a Congress leader in Birbhum district.

Manirul Islam, TMC MLA from Labhpur in the district, while addressing a party rally on Sunday, asked district Congress leader Sabyasachi Dutta to mend his ways.

"Bapi (Sabyasachi) Dutta, listen very carefully. It won't take a minute for me to behead you if you don't mend your ways. If you don't mend your ways, it will be much easier for me to behead you," Islam told the rally at Sainthia, which was also telecast by some news channels.

The police said Dutta had filed an FIR against Islam stating that Islam had publicly threatened to finish him off if he came in the way of TMC's panchayat election campaign.

Local Congress sources said Islam had recently switched over to the TMC from the Forward Bloc.

On July 17, TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal had allegedly asked party members to attack policemen with bombs and burn the houses of Independent candidates while addressing a panchayat election rally at a village in Bolpur sub-division.

The next day, TMC MP from Krishnagar in Nadia district Tapas Pal, while addressing a rally at Tehatta, had asked party activists to "beat up Communist Party of India - Marxist workers with shoes".

Taking cognisance of Mondal's comment, the State Election Commission had sought a report from the Birbhum district magistrate and superintendent of police.

Pal had also alleged that CPI-M cadres had raped women during the land movement in Nandigram.