Women protesters were paid

A protest rally over Sandeshkhali incident in Kolkata. File pic/PTI

In a purported video that surfaced from Sandeshkhali, a local BJP leader was heard saying that over 70 women had received Rs 2,000 each for taking part in protests against local TMC satrap Shahjahan Sheikh and his aides who were accused of sexual assault and land grab.

In the video, lasting over 45 minutes, a man resembling Sandeshkhali mandal president Gangadhar Kayal told this to the questioner. It was Kayal who had earlier said in another purported clip, the first in a series in the past week, that the rape allegations were staged.

PTI did not independently verify the authenticity of the videos. "We will need Rs 2.5 lakh in cash for 50 booths where 30 per cent of protesters would be women. We have to keep the SC, ST and OBC people here in good humour by paying them satisfactorily. In any situation, women will form the front row confronting the police," he said in the video.

PM mum on charges against Guv: Mamata

Claiming that PM Narendra Modi was continuing to "peddle lies" about Sandeshkhali, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday questioned why he was maintaining a stoic silence on the allegations of molestation against Governor CV Ananda Bose and not asking him to resign.

‘Goons threatening Sandeshkhali women'

Barrackpore/Hooghly: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday slammed the ‘vote-bank' politics of the TMC and said the goons of the ruling party are threatening the tormented women of Sandeshkhali, where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have surfaced, to protect the culprits involved in the heinous crime.

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