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Four West Bengal gram panchayat election winners who were allegedly abducted from a house in Kolkata on July 27 claimed to have been abducted by Trinamool Congress (TMC) men upon their return home on Sunday.
They claim that when they were forced to sign several statements that they did not write, some persons dressed as police officers were present.
In the elections on July 8, the four opposition candidates defeated the candidates of the ruling TMC to win the Krishnachandrapur gram panchayat seats from Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas district.
Three candidates for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and an independent candidate backed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) are among those who were allegedly abducted on the night of July 27 from a guest home in the Panchasayar neighborhood under the control of the Kolkata police.
The opposition members allegedly abandoned their houses and went into hiding as a result of TMC pressure to join the party.
The winners—two men, and two women—made the accusations against the TMC and the police 24 hours after a video of them claiming to be safe and not kidnapped appeared on social media on Saturday.
HT was unable to confirm the legitimacy of the footage.
Homemakers Kamala Mondal and Puja Chhatui, who gained seats for the BJP, made a U-turn in front of the media on Sunday.
"We all moved to the Panchasayar guest home after leaving our village. We feared that TMC members may pressure us to change our allegiance. On the evening of July 27, a group of TMC members with guns entered the guest home and abducted us. Over the following two days, they moved our location numerous times, Chhatui claimed in a statement to the neighborhood media.
"On Saturday, when the TMC employees forced us to sign certain written statements, there were some individuals in uniform from the police present. We were unable to read the paperwork, Kamala stated.
Sushanta Mondal, the third candidate for the BJP, stated: "The video people watched was recorded by the kidnappers. We had to feign safety under duress.
Narayan Haldar, the independent candidate sponsored by the CPI(M), remained silent.
Under the condition of anonymity, a Kolkata police official stated that the Panchasayar police's investigation into the charge made by former Left-wing minister and South 24 Parganas CPI(M) leader Kanti Ganguly revealed no proof of kidnapping.
The four people told the Panchasayar police on Friday night that they had not been abducted and were hiding, the officer said.