NRC: TMC delegation detained at Silchar airport, Mamata claims they were manhandled

Amid high drama, a delegation sent by the Trinamool Congress to assess the situation in Assam post-NRC was stopped at the airport here today and the members taken under preventive detention later, prompting Mamata Banerjee to cry foul and allege the BJP of imposing "super emergency" in the country.

The members were taken under preventive detention under 151 CrPC (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences), ADGP Mukesh Agarwala said.

The TMC leaders would be sent back tomorrow to West Bengal, he said.

Asked whether they would stay at the airport overnight, he said the police was looking into the protocol.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the incident and claimed her partymen were manhandled at the airport.

She also accused the BJP of imposing "super emergency" in the country and "showing muscle power".

The issue also figured in Lok Sabha when TMC members, led by senior leader Saugata Ray, protested the detention of four party MPs and demanded a response from the government in the House.

Trinamool Congress MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Arpita Ghosh, Mamata Thakur, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Nadimul Haque besides state minister Firhad Hakim and MLA Mohua Maitra were detained.

"Assam Police has detained them at Silchar Airport. They (Assam Police) were interfering with the free movement of people. This is a breach of privilege," Ray said, adding, "We want the government's response on this."
Wondering why they were stopped, Roy told a TV channel, "They manhandled us, including our women members. I am a heart patient. We have come here to talk to those people whose names were deleted. We are not here to create any trouble. But they have not allowed us."