Abhishek Banerjee alleges vendetta after 6-hr police questioning over billboard row

Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP-led government in West Bengal of pursuing a campaign of “political vendetta” against his party after he was questioned for nearly six hours over last week’s scuffle at his Kolkata office during the removal of an unauthorised billboard.

After coming out of Shakespeare Sarani police station, Banerjee said the action against him was part of a wider attempt to target the Trinamool Congress through the removal of party signboards, the freezing of accounts and criminal cases against leaders and workers.

The BJP, however, rejected the charge, with senior minister Agnimitra Paul saying the law applies equally to everyone and those accused of heckling or assaulting police must face legal action.

The case relates to a confrontation that broke out when Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials, accompanied by police, entered Banerjee’s Camac Street office premises to dismantle a billboard mounted on an iron structure facing the road.

Private security guards, party supporters and some TMC leaders resisted the move, leading to a scuffle with police and civic officials. Police later registered three FIRs and arrested several people.

Banerjee, who has been named as an accused in two of the cases, reached the police station at around 12.15 pm after being served a notice to appear. TMC supporters gathered outside and raised slogans, alleging that he was being targeted by the state government.

The cases include charges related to obstructing government officials from performing their duties, unlawful assembly, assault and harassment of women police personnel. Banerjee questioned the basis of the allegations, especially the charge involving women police personnel.

“If they think they can silence us through false cases and arrests, they are mistaken,” Banerjee told reporters. “They can question me but I am not scared, they are.” He said nearly 1,000 people had been sent to his office to remove the party’s signboard and described the move as politically motivated.

He also alleged that several party workers arrested after the incident were subjected to “custodial torture”. “One of our workers, Tarik, was arrested and subjected to custodial torture. He secured bail yesterday, but 12 or 13 others remain in judicial custody,” he said. Banerjee further claimed that many of those arrested were not served prior notices and alleged that “multiple procedural errors” had taken place.

Banerjee said the party had video footage of what happened during the confrontation. “Our workers did not attack the police. Instead, we have footage of our supporters being dragged down the stairs by police personnel,” he said, adding that the “truth exists on record”. The TMC has consistently described the police action as selective targeting of its leadership.

Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, who was present at the office during the incident and has also been named in a case, rejected allegations that private guards resisted officials and called such reports “fake news”. He also alleged that police entered the office with an “illegal” notice and manhandled senior leaders and staff. O’Brien did not appear before police on Monday despite being asked to do so, and police later served another notice at his residence asking him to appear on Wednesday.

The TMC also questioned the procedure followed by police. Banerjee and O’Brien’s lawyer, Arka Nag, said on Monday that although notices had been issued under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, copies of the FIRs had not been uploaded online.

He cited Supreme Court directions in the Youth Bar Association case and warned that police could face contempt proceedings over the issue. Banerjee also questioned how details of the notice served on him had reached the media before he was formally informed. “Even now, I have not officially received a notice. A notice was reportedly delivered to my residence before I was even informed, and somehow, the media learned about it almost immediately,” he said.

Banerjee linked the police action to the recent fire at the Alipore Administrative Building and alleged that the government had not shown similar urgency in that case. “Within a month of declaration of the election results on May 4, a mysterious fire broke out in the Alipore Administrative Building... Around 4,000 EVMs, 4,000 ballot units and 4,000 control units were reportedly destroyed in the fire,” he said. He alleged that no fire audit was demanded then, while “today, their focus is on removing Trinamool signboards, freezing party accounts, breaking MLAs and MPs and trying to weaken the party”.

He also alleged that nearly 10,000 names were deleted during the SIR exercise in his Lok Sabha constituency, Diamond Harbour, and claimed that the BJP had won the seat by around 400 votes. “Within a month, the EVMs connected to that process were destroyed in the fire. If those machines still existed today, I believe the truth would have come before the people,” he said.

Summing up the row, Banerjee said the cases would not weaken the TMC. “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”.