Kolkata: With the police yet to make a breakthrough in the horrendous gang-rape of a septuagenarian nun at a convent in Nadia district, the Left Front on Sunday wondered if the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government was trying to hush up the mater.
Leader of opposition in the state assembly and CPI-M politburo member Surjya Kanta Mishra on Sunday visited the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Ranaghat where a gang of bandits brutalised the nun in the early hours of Saturday.
"Whenever the chief minister wants to hush up a matter she summons the CID," Mishra told mediapersons.
"We have seen how CID worked in the chit-fund scam. Just to hush up the matter she had clamoured for the CID, but her minister had to go to jail," Mishra said referring to the multi-crore-rupee Saradha scam in which Transport Minister Madan Mitra, among others, is behind bars.
Banerjee on Saturday directed the Criminal Investigation Department to take up the probe but police have failed to arrest any of the culprits so far, although at least eight people have been detained for questioning.
Police have released snapshots of four of the culprits taken from CCTV footage and announced a reward of Rs.1 lakh for providing information about them.
"The administration has assured it would catch the culprits within 48 hours... we will wait till then. If the administration fails to act, then the administration and the chief minister will be responsible for the resulting protests and agitations," said Mishra.
Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta announced taking out a march in Kolkata in solidarity with the survivor.
"We want to create awareness in the society on the importance of non-violence and respect for women," Archbishop Thomas D'Souza said.
