Three women tried to set themselves on fire outside Gate ‘E’ of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, protesting alleged corruption and voter list manipulation by a cooperative society in West Bengal’s South 24-Parganas district, police said.
The women, identified as members of the Amgachhia Srishti Sangha Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Ltd, were stopped by police moments before one of them could ignite herself after pouring kerosene. Officers overpowered them and took them to SSKM Hospital for medical examination before moving them to Hare Street police station for questioning. According to police, the women alleged that despite depositing large sums of money with the cooperative, they had neither received their returns on time nor a refund. They claimed the society had for years’ enticed members with promises of high interest rates but failed to honour its commitments.
The cooperative, established in 2017, held its latest election earlier this year. The women alleged that their names were deliberately omitted from the voter list despite an order from a Calcutta High Court division Bench directing the publication of a fresh list. The society’s management allegedly ignored the court’s directive, they said. “This is a huge scam. There is an entire crime racket operating from within this cooperative, but we are getting no justice,” one of the women told reporters before being escorted away by police.
They attempted self-immolation, which took place mid-morning, drew a large crowd outside the court complex and briefly disrupted normal proceedings as bystanders gathered at the scene. A senior police official said an investigation had been launched into the allegations and the events leading to the protest. “We will examine the claims made against the cooperative society and take action as per law,” the official said. The cooperative’s management was not immediately available for comment. Financial irregularities in rural and semi-urban cooperative societies have been a recurring issue in West Bengal, often leading to protracted legal disputes and protests by aggrieved depositors.