Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP-led West Bengal government of pursuing “political vendetta” against his party after he was questioned for nearly six hours in connection with a scuffle at his Camac Street office last week during the removal of an unauthorised billboard.
Emerging from Shakespeare Sarani police station, Banerjee alleged that the government was selectively targeting the Trinamool Congress through police cases, arrests, removal of party signboards and freezing of accounts. “If they think they can silence us through false cases and arrests, they are mistaken,” he said. “They can question me but I am not scared, they are.”
Three FIRs over scuffle
The case stems from a confrontation after Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials, accompanied by police, entered the office premises to remove a billboard mounted on an iron structure facing the road. Private security personnel, TMC supporters and some party leaders allegedly resisted the operation, leading to a scuffle. Police subsequently registered three FIRs and arrested several people.
Banerjee, named as an accused in two cases, reached the police station around 12.15 pm. The cases include allegations of obstructing government officials, unlawful assembly, assault and harassment of women police personnel. He questioned the allegations and claimed nearly 1,000 people had been sent to his office to remove the party signboard.
Banerjee also alleged that arrested TMC workers had been subjected to “custodial torture” and claimed several people were taken into custody without prior notices. He said the party possessed video footage contradicting the police version. “Our workers did not attack the police. Instead, we have footage of our supporters being dragged down the stairs by police personnel,” he said.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, who was present during the confrontation and has also been named in a case, had earlier rejected claims that private security guards resisted officials. He alleged that police entered the office with an “illegal” notice and manhandled senior leaders and staff.
Banerjee raises Alipore fire
Banerjee sought to link the police action with the recent fire at the Alipore Administrative Building, claiming around 4,000 EVMs, 4,000 ballot units and 4,000 control units were destroyed. He questioned why the government had not shown similar urgency over the fire and alleged that nearly 10,000 names had been deleted during the SIR exercise in his Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency. He further claimed the BJP had won the seat by around 400 votes and suggested the destroyed machines could have helped establish the “truth”. The allegations were not independently verified.
BJP leader and senior minister Agnimitra Paul rejected the charge of political vendetta, maintaining that the law applied equally to everyone and that anyone accused of heckling or assaulting police personnel must face legal action.
Banerjee also questioned the procedure followed by police, including how details of the notice issued to him reached the media before he was formally informed. His lawyer Arka Nag had earlier alleged that copies of the FIRs had not been uploaded online despite notices being issued under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
O’Brien, who did not appear before police on Monday despite being summoned, has been served another notice asking him to appear on Wednesday.
Banerjee maintained that the cases would not weaken his party. “If they believe they can imprison us through false cases and crush the Trinamool Congress, they are living in a fool’s paradise because the people are not foolish,” he said, adding that in a democracy, “a ruler never speaks the final word — the people speak it”.