Buddhadeb summoned by commission probing 1993 police firing

Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been summoned to appear before a one-man inquiry commission probing the July 21, 1993 police firing on Youth Congress workers that left 13 dead.

"Bhattacharjee has been requested to appear before the commission Feb 26 to record his views. An order asking his presence on the day scheduled has been issued," Justice (retd) Sushanta Chatterjee of the commission said here Saturday.

"There are references to the name of Bhattacharjee in media reports published after the incident, so the commission deems it fit to summon him," Chatterjee said.

Immediately after assuming power in May 2011, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state constituted the commission to ascertain who issued the order to the police to open fire at the rally, which was called by Banerjee, who at the time was a youth Congress leader.

The now ruling Trinamool observes July 21 as "Martyr's Day".

Jyoti Basu was the chief minister at the time of the incident, while Bhattacharjee, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member, was the information and culture minister.

The commission has recorded statements of several people, including Left Front chairman and CPI-M leader Biman Bose.

The youth Congress workers had laid siege at the state secretariat, Writers' Buildings, demanding that voters' identity cards be the sole document required for voting. The Left Front had returned to power with a massive mandate in the state in 1991, but the opposition alleged that the polls had been rigged.