Kolkata, Aug. 30 -- Kolkata Police have served summons to the TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and senior party leader Derek O'Brien directing them to appear for questioning early this week following a violent clash over the removal of a billboard from a Camac Street office building.
According to sources, Banerjee was served a notice at his Kalighat residence on Saturday night seeking his appearance on Tuesday afternoon. On Sunday morning, a police team reached the residence of Brien and served him a notice as well, directing him to appear before the police for questioning.
Later, in the evening, a lawyer, Arka Kumar Nag, representing Banerjee, came out with a statement. In the statement, he mentioned that, in reply to the notice, Banerjee has sent a notice to the police mentioning that, as per the judgement of the Supreme Court, FIRs need to be uploaded within 24 hours of their registration.
"There was no compliance on behalf of the Kolkata Police to that effect. Accordingly, we have sent a notice saying that it is required. Contempt proceedings are being drawn up against the erring police officers.
Also, the attention of the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Calcutta has been drawn to the issue," said Nag. Following the incident, the Kolkata Police registered three separate FIRs at the Shakespeare Sarani police station. Banerjee, Brien and TMC leader Baiswanor Chattopadhyay, along with several party workers who were named in the FIRs, face serious charges, including unlawful assembly, assaulting on-duty police personnel, obstructing public servants from discharging their duties and outraging the modesty of a woman. So far, police have arrested 14 individuals in connection with the violence.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.