Kolkata, Jan 24 (IANS) The District Magistrate, also the District Electoral Officer, of Murshidabad district in West Bengal on Saturday afternoon finally lodged an FIR against the Trinamool Congress legislator from the Farakka Assembly constituency, who has been accused of leading party activists in vandalism at a centre for hearings on claims and objections on the draft voters’ list at Farakka over a week ago.

However, the FIR was registered almost 48 hours after the deadline set by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the same. The Commission had directed the District Electoral Officer of Murshidabad to register an FIR against Manirul Islam by 5 p.m. on Thursday and also inform the ECI accordingly.

As the FIR was not registered against the Trinamool Congress legislator till Saturday morning, the ECI took exception to the delay, following which the FIR was finally lodged on Saturday afternoon.

Reacting to the development, Islam told media persons that if he ended up behind bars for speaking on behalf of the common people, he would welcome it. “Currently, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the ECI are the same, with the latter operating just as an extended arm of the ruling party at the Centre,” Islam alleged.

Though delayed, the BJP welcomed the move. “It is unacceptable that an elected public representative obstructed the work of an autonomous organisation, entered government premises, vandalised them, and threatened to kill poll officials. An impartial investigation must be conducted immediately, and strict action must be taken against Islam,” said BJP’s organisational district chairman in Murshidabad, Subal Chandra Ghosh.

After the ransacking incident took place on the afternoon of January 14, Commission officials contacted the office of West Bengal’s acting Director General of Police, Rajeev Kumar, and asked him to take strong action in the matter.

Accordingly, an FIR was filed at the Farakka Police Station. However, it was alleged that the main perpetrators in the case, including Islam, were not named in that FIR.

The matter was again brought to the notice of the Commission, which finally directed the District Magistrate, as well as the District Electoral Officer of Murshidabad, on Thursday to register the FIR against Islam.

–IANS

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