First, Nepalese importers have had to move High Court to ensure that they can move their cargo from Kolkata on time. Second, Indo-Bangla trade through the international checkpost at Mehdipur, Malda has stopped. The reason: exorbitant demands made upon local exporters by armed extortionists enjoying TMC protection of the ruling party. Such incidents suggest that the warnings given by the Chief Minister to high-handed party leaders ‘not to go overboard’, during her second term, were merely symbolic, without much significance, observers feel.

At Malda, truck drivers carrying goods along National highway 34 heading to Bangladesh, organized a road-block a couple of days ago to protest against growing anti-social activities near the Susthani More area. Their ire was directed against local party-backed goons, as well as totally inactive police authorities.

At least four drivers - Arjun Singh, Rafiqul Sheikh, Tahrul Islam and Murshed Sheikh - were thrashed by some hooligans. The victims were asked to ‘donate’ Rs 500 each by armed local youths who stopped their vehicles. Earlier, locals wanted a token payment of Rs 20 or Rs 30, for no apparent reason. When the drivers refused to pay up they were attacked by choppers. Arjun was sent to Medical college hospital in a serious condition.

When the police arrived they faced angry drivers and were turned away, even as the youths threatened further violence. Facing a breakdown in the law and order situation, exporters stopped moving their goods. Indo-Bangla trade remains suspended. According to local media reports, driver Rabindranath Ghosh alleged that Arjun remained unconscious in the hospital. There were no arrests.

A spokesman of Malda Chamber of Commerce said the police were in league with the criminals who harassed truck drivers. He feared that indo-Bangla trade through the Mehdipur checkpost would stop permanently. Local exporters alleged that they had written and complained ‘at least 50 times’ to the state police and government officials about forcible extortion carried out by armed anti-socials, but to no avail ! “It presents west Bengal in a very poor light. Exporters will lose their credibility and both the state and centre will lose revenue, but nobody seems bothered”, said one trader.

If this is the position at Malda, the situation in the heart of Kolkata, at its port area, is similar. Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust (KOPT) Mr. M.T. Krishnababu recently told media persons,’ Extortions and criminal syndicates are also part of West Bengal’s culture now ‘.

It seems edible oil purchased by Nepal agencies cannot be dispatched in time from the port because vested interests and politicians have decided that cargo movement will be allowed only if tankers are used. Importers prefer to use the Railways instead, in view of the cost factor, but they have not been allowed by the local tanker owners’ association.

Mr, Krishnababu added that even orders passed by the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court, urging upon state Chief Secretary Basudab Banerjee to ensure a movement by rail as desired, did not make the slightest difference!

“This is very strange. It is more costly for importers to move edible oil by tankers, yet, they are being pressured to do so by some locals who defy the law,’ Mr. Krishnababu told media persons.

Two Nepalese companies which import oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, had filed a PIL at Calcutta High court to draw the attention of the authorities. They found it cheaper to move the oil by rail wagons up to Raxaul. But local tanker owners, who enjoy TMC support, had stopped their workers by force and insisted that the cargo must be carried in their tankers only.

Justice Dipankar Dutta had directed the SP South 24 Parganas to ensure that the importers could carry out their business in peace, but in vain. The tanker owners filed a counter case, which however, was summarily dismissed by a Division bench.

The reaction of the tanker owners to Mr. Krishnanbu’s observations was interesting. Their spokesman Sushanta Das told media persons, ”KOPT officers have to say such things, it does not matter.” According to him, movement was ‘cheaper by tanker’. Thus, importers prefer to use tankers..

As far as he was concerned, that was the end of the matter - never mind foreign trade, the revenue losses of the state or the Centre or the state’s image!

It may be recalled that during the TMC’s first tenure beginning in 2011, a French concern had been forced to leave Haldia port, unable to carry out its loading-unloading work using modern equipment aiming to speed up work, in the face of armed obstruction and harassment from workers controlled by an influential Rajya Sabha MP of the TMC. ‘Clearly, very little has changed as the TMC begins its second tenure and partymen know that their leader’s warnings do not mean very much’, says Congress leader Abdul Mannan.

Prior to her departure to Mumbai High court, Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, known for her outspoken remarks about the state’s ‘administration’, had said that recent warnings of TMC leaders seeking to curb lawlessness, were merely the tip of an iceberg. ’We know what happens when people go to register a complaint with the local police, who do not act even when the court orders them,’ she had said. (IPA Service)