Kolkata: TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was questioned by Kolkata Police for nearly four hours Saturday in connection with an FIR over a social media post allegedly targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Gujarati community, with rival TMC and BJP supporters trading slogans outside the police station.
The Diamond Harbour MP appeared at Bhowanipur police station before the scheduled time of 12.30 pm in response to a notice served on him and left after the questioning.
As Banerjee emerged from the police station, slogans of “chor, chor” were allegedly raised by BJP supporters gathered outside.
TMC supporters, in turn, alleged that the BJP paid small amounts of money to people to raise such slogans, claiming that unemployment was high in the state and that the promised Annapurna scheme benefits for one crore people had not materialised.
The FIR was registered May 27 following a complaint by a Bhowanipur resident, Arnab Kanti Das, over a post made by Banerjee on X on May 2.
The complainant alleged that the TMC leader had described Kumar as a “puppet of the anti-Bengali Gujarati gang” and accused him of making remarks that could spread hatred and hurt the sentiments of a particular community.
In his complaint, Das alleged that Banerjee’s remarks were irresponsible and potentially harmful to communal harmony and national integrity.
He also contended that referring to the entire Gujarati community as a “gang” or criminal syndicate was an insult to the community and could undermine the country’s pluralistic culture and social cohesion.
Police registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those relating to promoting enmity, making statements conducive to public mischief, inciting violence and disturbing public order, among other charges.
The questioning comes amid a series of police cases against the TMC leader since the BJP came to power in West Bengal.
Banerjee has appeared before police and the CID on multiple occasions in connection with different cases.
On Friday, police personnel visited his residence to serve a notice asking him to appear before Girish Park police station in connection with another FIR.
In that case, the TMC MP has been accused of allegedly threatening police personnel through a social media post.
He has been summoned to appear at Girish Park police station November 20.
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