A day after a mob gheraoed seven judicial officers in West Bengal’s Malda, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (April 2, 2026) urged people not to resort to violence and said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “game plan” is to impose President’s rule in the State.
“Nobody informed me about the incident in Malda yesterday. I got to know (about it) from a journalist. The Chief Secretary has not called me till today,” Ms. Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting.
Seven judicial officers were gheraoed by locals at a BDO office at Mothabari in Malda District on Wednesday (April 1).
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The officials were rescued late on Wednesday night by a huge contingent of police and security forces.
“The Election Commission (EC) has deleted 1.20 crore names. The game plan of the BJP is to impose President’s rule in the State. Do not fall into the trap, do not obstruct judges,” the Trinamool Congress chairperson said.
She told the people that if they did not want the State to be ruled by the BJP, they should not resort to violence.
Ms. Banerjee, who held public meetings at Sagardighi and Suti in Murshidabad district, asked people not to fall into the “BJP’s trap” of riots. She blamed the poll panel for “failing to protect” the judicial officers. “I have no powers left today. This is the fault of the EC, it could not protect judges,” she said.
The Chief Minister expressed disappointment over the incident and said there was an attempt to defame West Bengal. “Everything was ruined by that one incident. I don’t know who did this, but it was definitely planned. Now they are trying to cancel the election. They are saying that the State’s election system is bad just because of this one incident,” she said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday came down heavily on the West Bengal government for failing to ensure protection to the judges engaged in SIR work.
About 60 lakh cases are under adjudication which are being dealt by the judicial officers. About 40% of cases under adjudication have been rejected resulting in anger and anguish among the people.
The BJP leadership held a press conference in Delhi and Kolkata and accused the ruling Trinamool of instigating the mob.
“Afraid of losing the elections following the deletion of names of bogus voters, the Trinamool has mobilised jihadi elements in the district and orchestrated this unconstitutional, illegal agitation, keeping judicial officers, magistrates, including women confined in the extreme heat, humid conditions for hours,” BJP state spokesperson Debajit Sarkar said.