2 new videos emerge, give TMC ammo to target BJP over ‘Mission Sandeshkhali’ | India News

SANDESHKHALI: The controversy surrounding Bengal BJP’s Sandeshkhali block-II mandal president Gangadhar Koyal took a new turn Sunday with the emergence of a second sting video and an interview with a purported “rape survivor”, further fuelling Trinamool Congress’s allegations that the entire issue was a “BJP narrative engineered for political purposes”.
The newly surfaced sting video, tweeted by TMC, purportedly shows Koyal detailing the expenses incurred by BJP for “Mission Sandeshkhali”. “Around 72 women in Sandeshkhali received Rs 2,000 each to be involved in the movement,” he is heard saying.
Koyal, who moved Calcutta high court last week alleging voice manipulation using AI, is seen discussing (with a person who isn’t identified) providing arms, ammunition, and liquor to the protesters to continue with the movement. When the person asks about firearms, Koyal says: “Around 50 pistols are required as 30 guns for Manipur and 20 for Korakati (two gram panchayats) will be used. Twelve rounds of cartridges will be needed for each pistol. These will also be removed immediately once the operation is over.”
Asked about the money, Koyal replies: ”It should be Rs 1 lakh. Then we will manage everything. Besides, 10 cellphones are also required to operate the movement smoothly.” Koyal is also purportedly seen admitting that BJP MLA and leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari has made the arrangements for money and mobile phones.
A second video emerged later in the day, featuring an interview with a woman claiming to be a “rape survivor”.
She denies any sexual abuse and accuses local BJP functionaries, including Papiya Das alias Mampi, of coercing her to sign a blank piece of paper to lodge false complaints.
Another woman had made similar statements earlier and lodged a complaint against Das.
“It was my brothers who had actually launched the movement in the beginning and were arrested by police. That left us in the lurch. Taking advantage of the situation, BJP members, including Mampi, coerced us to lodge false complaints of sexual assault.
“There was no rape or any kind of sexual harassment in Sandeshkhali. I have now mustered up the courage by following other women, who have already raised their voices to withdraw the false complainants,” the woman says in the interview.
In videos that emerged Wednesday and Thursday, two other women had also claimed that they were forced to lodge complaints after being made to sign blank papers.
BJP’s Basirhat candidate Rekha Patra dismissed the allegations, calling them “bogus and baseless” and attributing them to a Trinamool conspiracy. “All the complainants lodged their complaints on their own. Nobody forced them,” she said.
In response, Trinamool’s Sandeshkhali MLA Sukumar Mahato said: “The facts are coming out one after another.
“We have been saying for so long that BJP is playing dirty politics over Sandeshkhali. Innocent women were forced to make false complaints. They didn’t even know the nature of the complaints.”