Kolkata, July 5 -- In a major legal setback for TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, a second FIR has been registered against him at the Bishnupur Police Station in South 24-Parganas.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in his community healthcare initiative, 'Sebaashray'. The development follows an earlier FIR registered at the Diamond Harbour Police Station based on a complaint lodged by BJP leader Abhijit Das, alias Bobby.

In his complaint, Das named several TMC leaders, including Jahangir Khan, Bishnupur MLA Dilip Mondal, Magrahat West MLA Shamim Ahmed and Sumit Roy, Banerjee's personal assistant, who is currently wanted by the state police. The FIR has reportedly been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with sections of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, the Atomic Energy Act, the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act and the Clinical Establishments Act.

According to the complaint, the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act were invoked over allegations that sophisticated diagnostic equipment using radioactive sources was operated without the mandatory statutory clearances, thereby allegedly posing a risk to public safety.

It may be mentioned that the TMC's flagship healthcare initiative, Sebaashray, was launched by Banerjee with the stated objective of providing free diagnostic services and medical consultations across his Diamond Harbour parliamentary constituency.

However, the complainant has alleged that the programme bypassed mandatory regulatory requirements and unlawfully deployed government doctors, medical staff and public infrastructure for political purposes.

In a separate development, Banerjee on Sunday responded to a notice issued by the Kalighat Police Station regarding an alleged violation of the Motor

Vehicles Act.

The notice followed a complaint lodged by social activist Rajib Sarkar, who alleged that Banerjee's security personnel were seen hanging from the footboards of his moving vehicle while travelling from Kolkata airport to Kalighat on the day he appeared before the CID. As part of the investigation, the police had sought certain documents and details from Banerjee. While the police were preparing to issue a second notice after the deadline for his response had expired, Banerjee, through his lawyer, informed the investigators that the agency responsible for providing his security personnel would be in a position to answer the queries.

He also requested the police to specify the exact date of the journey referred to in the notice.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.