Harassment complaint filed against CPM leader

The CPM has decided to suspend former MLA Tanmoy Bhattacharya following allegations against him of harassing a woman journalist. This decision was announced on Sunday evening by the party’s state secretary, Mohammad Salim. An official complaint has been filed with Baranagar police station regarding the matter. Mr Salim also stated that there will be an internal investigation into the allegations against Tanmoy, and that he will remain suspended until the investigation is completed.

Any further action will depend on the advice of the investigation committee. After the allegations emerged, Tanmoy stated: “I usually joke with everyone. This woman has interviewed me at least ten times before. I’ve joked with her before too. I don’t understand why this is happening now and why she filed a report at the police station.” On Sunday afternoon, during a Facebook live session, the journalist claimed that when she went to interview Tanmoy that morning, he was sitting on her lap. This claim quickly spread on social media and caused an uproar within the CPM.

Following this, Mr Salim held a press conference and said: “I heard in the afternoon that a female journalist was angry with Tanmoy’s behaviour. Women are very aware of the difference between normal touch and inappropriate touch. The CPM takes such complaints seriously. Tanmoy’s actions were reprehensible and the party does not support such behavior. We do not view this lightly.” Mr Salim continues: “We have an internal complaints committee with its own procedures, and that takes time. That is why we will suspend Tanmoy sooner. The duration of the suspension will depend on the duration of the internal investigation.

We will act in accordance with the committee’s recommendations.” According to CPM sources, a higher committee is formed to investigate in such cases. Tanmoy is an invited member of the District Commission and falls under the jurisdiction of the State Commission. Because the accusations were made publicly on social media rather than through party channels, Salim announced the suspension on his own initiative. The internal investigation committee will soon be ordered to begin its work, with a deadline for completion.

There are claims from party sources that several allegations have been made against Tanmoy previously, and these could also be investigated alongside the recent complaint. Sujan Chakraborty, who plays an important role for the CPM in North 24-Parganas district, commented on the allegations against Tanmoy. He said: “I watched Facebook live and found it disturbing. However, we are not like other parties. It is important to remember that in the past we have excluded individuals on character issues only to find them embraced by the Trinamul Congress.” When asked about possible action against Tanmoy, Mr Chakraborty said: “We have certain procedures within our party, and we will follow them in deciding our course of action.”