KOLKATA, MAY 12: Named in a Nandigram FIR alleging molestation and locked in a verbal duel with CPM MP Lakshman Seth during Sunday’s panchayat polls in West Bengal, CRPF DIG Alok Raj today left Nandigram for his headquarters in Ranchi, saying he and his men were being “framed” by the local police in “collusion” with CPM leaders.

Speaking to The Indian Express from Ranchi, Alok Raj said: “It (FIR) was to pressurise Central police forces, stop them from doing their duty impartially.” He said that he had already informed his seniors about the sequence of events in Nandigram and the “stiff opposition” his unit faced in carrying out its duty of “area domination and patrolling” as had been agreed earlier with the local administration.

“I am back in Ranchi because the major part of my duty, polling, is over,” he said. He was upset that he had failed to get a copy of the complaint against him even 48 hours after it had reportedly been lodged.

“Until now, I have learnt only from media reports that some women in Nandigram have lodged a complaint of molestation against the CRPF team, including me. So far, no police officer from Nandigram or from the state government has spoken to me.”

“I have not yet been informed about the nature or content of the complaint. I have written a letter to the SP, S S Panda, to let me know the nature of the complaint, if any, as early as possible. But till now, there has been no communication,” Alok Raj said.

In New Delhi, CRPF Director General V K Joshi asked the Union Home Ministry to get the West Bengal government investigate the veracity of the molestation case filed against its DIG.

Backing the DIG, Joshi called up Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta this morning and requested him to get the state government to examine the FIR expeditiously. It is learnt that Gupta immediately called up West Bengal Chief Secretary A K Deb and asked him for a report on both the case and the DIG’s spat with the MP.

In Kolkata, CRPF Addl DG N R Das said that Alok Raj had returned to Ranchi where he will be part of the Special Task Force constituted to tackle Maoists.

Meanwhile, Lakshman Seth, the CPM MP, has written a letter to the CRPF DG — he has marked copies to the Lok Sabha Speaker and West Bengal police chief A B Vohra — alleging that the DIG misbehaved with him. “I have said that suitable action should be taken against Alok Raj,” Seth told The Indian Express.

Chief Secretary Deb said IG (western range) Rakesh Gupta had been asked to conduct an inquiry whether the CRPF exceeded its statutory limits.

There’s also a row over the role of Nandigram Officer-in-Charge Debashish Chakraborty. On Sunday, Chakraborty alleged he was beaten up by CRPF jawans at Gokulnagar when he objected to checking of photo identity cards at polling booths. He has been accused of taking sides with the ruling party.

Chakraborty was present in Nandigram throughout Sunday though Chief Secretary Deb had said on May 7 that the OC would be kept out election duty in the wake of complaints against him from different quarters. Asked about the presence of the OC despite his earlier announcement, Deb today said: “I will not speak on the matter now. I am busy in a meeting.”

S N Roychoudhury, secretary of the state election commission, said: “It is not our job to see who is given which duty.”

SP Panda said: “What can I say? Please ask my superiors. The order to deploy him for poll duty in Nandigram came from the higher-ups.”

Chakraborty had earlier been booked for his role in the investigation of a murder case in Hooghly district and was suspended for six months. He also had a case pending against him in a Haldia court for assaulting a woman. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee also named him in an FIR, alleging inaction and a partisan role when she was prevented from entering a village in Nandigram recently.

When Chakraborty’s comments were sought, he said: “I just did my duty as ordered by my superiors. Nobody told me I am off poll-duty. If that was so, then how I could I have been there. It is true that I was suspended for sometime years ago but I was reinstated. I still stand by what I said and did yesterday.”