Students protest against Mamata govt over crime against women in Sandeshkhali

New Delhi: Hundreds of students staged a demonstration here on Tuesday to protest against the Mamata Banerjee government for its inaction in the crime against women in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali.

The protest was led by RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Central Delhi's Banga Bhavan.

The protesting students raised slogans against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal and demanded a high-level enquiry to be set in the alleged land grabbing and rape cases against women in Sandeshkhali.

The students' organisation will submit a memorandum enlisting their demands to President Droupadi Murmu.

Earlier this month, the Delhi BJP held a demonstration against the TMC government over the Sandeshkhali issue and demanded Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's resignation.

Carrying placards, a large number of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and leaders gathered at the Teen Murti Chowk and raised slogans against Banerjee, saying the "silence" of a woman chief minister on the issue is "shameful and painful".

According to a party statement, the BJP workers broke the barricades put up by the police following which over 150 of them, including Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva, were detained and taken to the Tughlak Road police station.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, said that Banerjee should resign from her post.

TMC strongman Shajahan Sheikh, a key accused in sexual assault and land-grab allegations in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, was arrested on Thursday after being on the run for 55 days.

Immediately after his arrest, Sheikh was suspended by the TMC for six years. He was the party convenor of the Sandeshkhali assembly constituency and was also a member of the TMC-held North 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad.