Kolkata, May 31: Four people have been arrested for allegedly attacking Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee during his visit to Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district, police said on Sunday.
According to a senior police officer, the arrests were made during overnight raids based on video footage collected from the area.
Scores of people hurled stones, eggs and abuses at the Diamond Harbour MP, who escaped the mob wearing a cricket helmet and helped by aides on Saturday in Sonarpur town of South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.
Banerjee was attacked when he went to visit the victims of post-poll violence, and later claimed that BJP activists were trying to kill him. Unidentified people scuffled with the leader and roughed him up while raising chants of “thief, thief”.
The situation quickly spiralled into chaos, with some members of the crowd reportedly attempting to physically attack Banerjee by raining blows and kicks on him, prompting swift intervention by security personnel.
An officer said that the police have registered a case in the matter suo motu, since neither Banerjee nor the Trinamool Congress had lodged a formal complaint till Sunday.
They will be produced before a court in Baruipur, police said.
Banerjee was later briefly admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata, from where he was discharged following primary medical attention.
Reacting sharply to the development, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee pointed fingers at the BJP.
“RULERS BECAME KILLERS- shame on you BJP!” she wrote on X.
The TMC chief, alongside party leaders Firhad Kakim and Derek O’Brien, also visited the hospital where Abhishek had checked in.
Denouncing the attack, BJP West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya said such incidents aren’t desirable in a healthy and normal society, while insisting that the saffron party was in no way involved.
“The BJP is not involved in such activities. But what happened could be the outcome of the anger of locals who were tortured over the years,” Bhattacharya said.
Leaders criticise attack
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday lashed out at the BJP over the attack on TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and said he is ashamed that he is living in a country where the party in power would use any means to destroy the foundations of democracy.
Sibal asked what action has been taken to book the perpetrators of the violence and questioned the silence of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday strongly condemned the attack on Abhishek Banerjee in West Bengal, saying there is no place for violence in democracy.
“The attack on MP Abhishek Banerjee in West Bengal is extremely reprehensible. In democracy, there can be ideological differences, but there is no place for violence and attacks,” Soren said in a post on X.
He said that political opposition “should be countered with logic and public opinion, not with fear and the use of force”.
Also on Sunday, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said the deteriorating law and order situation in West Bengal after the BJP won the state assembly elections earlier this month is “appalling”.
“The sad deteriorating law & order ever since BJP won the West Bengal elections is appalling to say the least. Where neutral institutions like the police are now being weaponised to turn a blind eye as murderous assaults are orchestrated against political opponents like Abhishek Banerjee,” Mufti said in a post on X.
CPI general secretary D Raja on Sunday condemned the continuing incidents of post-election violence in West Bengal and said physical attacks on elected representatives and vandalism have no place in a democracy. “The BJP, which is now responsible for maintaining law and order, cannot evade accountability. Reports of its own supporters indulging in violent acts, attacking political party offices and vandalising public symbols like the statue of Lenin are a matter of serious concern,” the CPI leader said. (PTI)
