'Talibani punishment': West Bengal governor meets Chopra flogging victims

KOLKATA: West Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose changed his plans to meet victims of a flogging incident, initially scheduled to be in Chopra, by meeting them instead in Cooch Behar on Tuesday morning.
Bose arrived in Bagdogra from New Delhi and went directly to Cooch Behar, where the victims were waiting.
"At the moment, the governor is interacting with the victims at the Cooch Behar circuit house and gathering details from them," an official.
The incident's victims expressed their desire to meet the governor in Cooch Behar, prompting the change in plans. Whether Bose will still visit Chopra will be decided based on his assessment of the situation.
"Since the victims expressed their desire to meet him in Cooch Behar and have already arrived here, the governor is meeting them here. Whether or not he visits Chopra will depend on his assessment," the official added.
Bose had sought a report from chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday regarding the flogging of a couple.
Police registered a case on Sunday after a video of the incident which occurred on Friday and went viral on social media causing widespread outrage.
The man seen in the video beating the couple with a bamboo stick was identified as Tajmul also known as 'JCB' who is claimed to be a local TMC leader. He was later arrested.
The couple was allegedly involved in an illicit relationship which led to their flogging by the direction of a kangaroo court, according to the police.
A day ago, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla while slamming the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government had compared it to the Taliban's harsh regime in Afghanistan over the viral video showing Tajmul thrashing the couple in public in the Chopra area of Uttar Dinajpur district.
In a post on 'X', Shehzad had criticized leaders from the India Bloc for their silence on the issue.

"This kangaroo court is taking place in broad daylight, but Mamata didi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Sagarika Ghose, Mahua Moitra, Rahul Gandhi, and the entire cabal will be silent. They were silent on the Swati Maliwal case and incidents in Sandeshkhali too," Poonawalla said.