Mahua Moitra booked over ‘communal’ post, summoned by Diamond Harbour police

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has been booked under non-bailable sections and summoned by the Diamond Harbour cybercrime police over a social media post in which she alleged that Muslim IAS and IPS officers in West Bengal were deliberately excluded from an official programme attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Krishnanagar MP has been asked to appear before the Diamond Harbour Cyber Crime Police Station at 11 am on Saturday, September 5, for questioning. The FIR was registered following a complaint by Diamond Harbour resident Sonu Bera, who alleged that Moitra’s post had the potential to promote communal discord.

Police have invoked Sections 196, 197, 299 and 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), dealing with offences including promoting enmity between groups, assertions prejudicial to national integration, deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings and statements conducive to public mischief.

Post on Muslim officers

Moitra named three senior officials — Siliguri Police Commissioner Waquar Raza, STF Director General Jawed Shamim and IAS officer Khalil Ahmed — while questioning their alleged exclusion. She claimed Raza had been barred from the welcome line, Shamim was not invited to official programmes and Ahmed was made to leave a meeting. Tagging the IPS Association and IAS Association, Moitra questioned whether the officers’ associations would protest what she described as communal discrimination.

The allegations subsequently prompted Bera to approach the Diamond Harbour police, leading to registration of the FIR and the summons. Moitra had not publicly responded to the latest police action till Thursday evening.

Fresh legal trouble

The summons adds to a series of legal and political confrontations involving the TMC MP in recent weeks. Moitra had recently appeared before Hogolberia police in Nadia in connection with another case involving allegations of communal incitement, where she was questioned for more than an hour.

The latest development also comes a day after the Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal Police to provide security to Moitra whenever she visits her Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency for the next 30 days. The order followed Moitra’s plea concerning incidents in which she alleged she had been obstructed and targeted while attending political programmes in her constituency. The fresh FIR, however, relates specifically to her September 1 social media post concerning the treatment of Muslim officers during Shah’s north Bengal programme.