This year’s assembly election in West Bengal is a high pitched battle between TMC, which is looking forward to third term and the BJP getting desperate to make inroads into the state. Till 5 pm on Tuesday, nearly 78 percent polling was recorded in Phase-III of West Bengal assembly election 2021.

At Tarakeshwar in Hooghly a central security personnel, a jawan of CRPF, was caught assaulting a minor girl, after which he was thrashed and handed over to police by the locals.

Derek O Brien of TMC has written to Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal regarding the gruesome sexual assault on minor girl by CRPF jawan in Assembly Constituency 198-Tarakeshwar in Hooghly district.

The TMC leader accused the CRPF, which has been deployed by the Election Commission on poll duty to ensure free and fair elections, of “engaging in activities involving moral turpitude”.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

The letter from Derek O’Brien to the electoral office reads as follows:

“In a gruesome and heart-breaking turn of events, the very CRPF that has been deployed to poll-bound Tarakeshwar, Hooghly to maintain the law and order, has become responsible for brutal and vicious attack on a minor, school-going girl.

In the early hours of 6 April 2021, immediately before the polls, a spot adjacent to the sanctuary of an educational institution, the Ramnagar Primary School, became the site of a horrific crime. In an unprecedented attack, an unidentified CRPF jawan brutally and viciously sexually assaulted a minor girl, a resident of Ramnagar GP.

The CRPF has specifically been deputed by the Election Commission of lndia in poll-bound districts in West Bengal to ensure ‘free and fair poll’ and ‘maintain law and order’. In fact, a large number of CRPF personnel were deployed in Hooghly just ahead of the polls. However, not only have such personnel failed to ensure ‘free and fair poll’ and in their primary duty to ‘maintain law and order’ but also are engaging in activities involving moral turpitude. The brutal attack has emotionally scarred a minor girl and her family.”

Also See: West Bengal 2021: Battleground for BJP and TMC

After the LS elections of 2019, India witnessed the largest electoral exercise today when 475 constituencies across four states of West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu & UT of Puducherry went to polls. West Bengal voted for the third phase of its assembly election. In this third phase of polling, voting took place for 31 seats. West Bengal witnessed a voter-turnout of 77.86% in the third-phase.

Election in West Bengal is scheduled to be held in 8 phases from March 27 to April, 29 and the vote counting will take place on May, 02.