NEW DELHI: West Bengal minister
Akhil Giri
has come under scrutiny after a video surfaced showing him threatening and verbally abusing Moumita Sahu, a woman official from the state
forest department
. The incident took place on Saturday in Purba Medinipur district following the removal of illegal encroachments from forest land near Tajpur sea beach.
In the footage, Giri can be heard making menacing remarks toward Sahu and her team, including threats of severe consequences if she continued to be involved in the matter.
“Don’t talk too much. You are a government employee; bow down your head while speaking. See what happens to you within a week. If you involve yourself in this issue again, I will make sure you can’t return,” Giri said.
The forest department removed several illegal shops from the forest land near Tajpur beach on Friday night. These establishments were reportedly submerged during high tides. A senior forest department official told news agency PTI that while many constructions on forest land had gone unchecked, action was taken against these specific shops due to their location.
Giri criticised the forest department’s actions, telling PTI, “The forest department removed shops and is now disrupting the lives of poor people. Many constructions on forest land have not been addressed before.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party also shared the video on X and challenged
Mamata Banerjee
to take action. The party questioned whether the accused would face consequences for his alleged threats and misconduct towards a woman.
“Will Mamata Banerjee dare to throw out this Minister and put him behind the bars? Will charges be filed against him for obstructing government workers and outraging the modesty of women? Let’s see if this goon is kicked inside the jail for threatening to indirectly kill and outrage the modesty of a woman,” West Bengal BJP said in a post on X.
‘Mamata Banerjee monitoring the situation’
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh condemned Giri’s actions. “We oppose Giri’s words and behavior. It is unacceptable. If he had concerns about the forest department, he should have addressed them through Birbaha Hansda. The mistreatment of the woman officer is unfortunate, and our party does not endorse such behavior. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and
TMC
general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are monitoring the situation,” Ghosh said.
This incident is not Giri’s first controversy. In 2022, he faced criticism for making racist comments about President Droupadi Murmu during a rally in Nandigram.
“We don’t judge anyone by their appearance, we respect the office of the President (of India). But how does our President look?” he had said.