Bengal workers killing ‘pre-planned’, demand probe: Mamata

Kolkata: Describing the killings of five workers from her state in the Kashmir Valley as being “pre-planned and brutal”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday demanded a “comprehensive inquiry” into the incident.

Five workers from Bengal were shot dead by terrorists at Katrasoo village of Kulgam district on Tuesday evening.

“Our workers who had gone there had gone there in search of jobs. They were preparing to come back. But the way they have been murdered brutally, it is a dangerous incident.

“I think it is a pre-planned brutal murder,” she told media persons here.

Banerjee wondered how the incident could take place in a situation where there are no political activities, the press cannot move freely, and even MPs are not permitted to go there.

“Now there are no political activities there. The press cannot move freely. No MP can go there. So if some people had gone for work and were preparing to come back, what was the need to murder them?” she asked.

Banerjee also pointed out that the incident happened on the day the European MPs’ delegation arrived in India.

“They also have not liked the incident. These sorts of incidents give a bad name to the country. Whatever has happened is not right. There has to be a comprehensive inquiry,” she added.