West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday set up a five-member committee that will look into the vandalism at the Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar College in Kolkata on May 14.
The investigating panel will be headed by newly appointed state Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, News18 reported. Members of the panel will include Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma and Principal of Ishwar Vidyasagar College Gautam Kundu.
Clashes broke out during Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah’s roadshow in Kolkata ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The statue of Bengali writer and philosopher Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalised during the violence.
“Today, we have formed a five-member committee to investigate the incident of vandalism at Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar College,” Banerjee told reporters. “The committee will be headed by new Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay.”
The BJP and Trinamool Congress have accused each other of desecrating the statue and for the violence during the campaign. After the vandalism, the Election Commission had asked parties to stop campaigning a day ahead of schedule. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered to build another statue of Vidyasagar at the same spot, which Banerjee had refused to accept.
West Bengal has reported the most cases of violence during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
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