Kolkata, Oct. 8 -- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought a report from the state government on the alleged attack at CPI(M) leader and senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya's residence, after lawyers raised the incident before a division bench and expressed concern over attacks on members of the legal fraternity.
The Chief Justice asked the lawyers to have faith in the court and said the incident should be properly investigated. Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee said people at Bhattacharya's home were terrified by the attacks. Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Mazumdar assured the court of police action, while referring to an earlier incident during the TMC regime when slogans were allegedly raised outside the residence of a sitting judge. Banerjee also referred to the alleged attack on lawyer Samim Ahmed's vehicle.
The incident occurred around 5 am at Bhattacharya's residence in Purbalok. Following his written complaint, Purba Jadavpur Police Station registered a case under Sections 324(6), 125, 79, 352 and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said the complaint alleged that an unidentified man arrived on a motorcycle and threw beer bottles at the house in a manner that endangered human life, besides allegedly abusing women inmates and threatening Bhattacharya.
Police said CCTV footage from the residence and adjoining areas showed a man with his face covered arriving on a motorcycle and throwing four bottles before fleeing towards Daspara Bridge at around 5.35 am.
Investigators said the accused may be from Bikash Guha Colony or a nearby area under Panchasayar Police Station. Plain-clothes surveillance has been deployed and a police picket posted near Bhattacharya's residence.
Bhattacharya alleged that "Hindutvavadi" miscreants were behind the attack. He said he heard a loud sound before his domestic help alerted him to the damaged window panes. He also alleged that the attacker threatened him and said he would seek a firearm licence from the police commissioner for self-defence.
The CCTV footage allegedly captures the attacker hurling abuses and saying: "Don't come after us, we are patriots." Its authenticity could not be independently verified.
Former chief minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the incident, saying that despite being on opposite sides of the ideological and legal divide, "the line of decency was never crossed". She called for unity among advocates irrespective of political affiliations and alleged that voices of dissent were being crushed. Banerjee also cited crime figures to allege worsening lawlessness, including 2,454 rape cases, 600 murders, 13,114 attempts to murder and 32,341 grievous assault cases in the
past five months.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.