Kolkata, July 22 (IANS) West Bengal police chief Bhupinder Singh Thursday landed in a soup following allegations from opposition members in the state assembly that he was clicking photographs of the house proceedings on his mobile. Singh, however, said he had accidentally pressed a wrong button on the phone.
The unprecedented incident took place during discussions on the Home (Police) budget that had led to bitter exchanges among members after a Congress member speaking on the budget was shouted down by some ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) members.
As the CPI-M members asked him to stop his speech and sit down, the other Congress members raised a huge and cry, left their seats and came towards the speaker’s podium, but were confronted by some CPI-M lawmakers.
It was at this point of time that Congress member Arup Sarkar alleged that Bhupinder Singh, who was in the officials’ gallery, was clicking photographs of the pandemonium in the house.
The Congress members vociferously protested, before their legislature party leader Manas Bhuniya raised a point of order and demanded strong punitive action against Bhupinder Singh for his act ‘which is in violation of assembly rules’.
Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim ordered the police officer’s mobile phone be seized and asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sailen Sarkar to submit a report by Friday morning.
Speaking to media persons outside, Leader of Opposition and Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chattopadhyay demanded the police chief’s suspension.
Later, facing queries from media persons, the senior police officer said he was sending a text message when his finger accidentally fell on a wrong button leading to the flash going off.
‘Why should I take photographs?’ he asked.
