Kolkata, Sept. 23 -- Supporters of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction and the BJP clashed in Mukundapur, on the city's south-eastern fringes. The TMC alleged that several of its workers and leaders were roughed up and molested, while the BJP termed the claim false. Police said a confrontation broke out between the two sides on Tuesday over the control of a party office in the area, and they had to resort to baton-charge to disperse the crowd.
Several TMC workers were reportedly hospitalised following the clashes. Tensions escalated after local TMC workers aligned with the party's Mamata Banerjee faction took out a rally, demanding that a local party office, previously owned by the Trinamool Congress and now "forcefully occupied" by the BJP, be freed. They intended to submit a memorandum at the local police station. The party alleged that shortly after the rally began, inebriated BJP workers attacked them, leading to scuffles. It also alleged that eggs were thrown at Chowdhury and other women workers.
TMC spokesperson and the Mamata Banerjee group's IT cell head Upasana Chowdhury alleged that she was molested and beaten up with sticks by BJP workers who laid a siege before her residence in the area. She also claimed that BJP activists hurled eggs at her, attacked her family when they tried to save her from the blows and kicks, and smashed the front and rear windshields of her car. "We had gone to submit a memorandum, carrying the Constitution in our hands. But BJP-backed miscreants vandalised my car and attacked my home," Chowdhury said. The party's ex-MLA and former IPS officer Humayun Kabir alleged that he was brutally assaulted by BJP workers when he was trying to reach the local police station where several party leaders were being held in the immediate aftermath of the clashes.
In a video on Facebook, in which Kabir could be seen wounded with his face soaked in blood and his shirt torn, the TMC leader claimed that he was recording the footage from inside the police station and alleged that he was assaulted right in front of the police. Kabir said the attackers snatched his belongings, including the money he had, and even smashed his glasses. Both parties held demonstrations before the Purba Jadavpur police station. According to eyewitness accounts, police intervened after the situation worsened and tried to bring it under control. Condemning the incident, TMC MP Derek O'Brien took to social media to allege that the police remained inactive during the assault. "Four disturbing pictures tell the truth. This Tuesday evening in Calcutta. Proof of the brutalities unleashed on our party colleagues by intoxicated BJP thugs. Our IT cell head Upasana beaten/molested. Former MLA/senior police officer Humayun wounded. Where is the police?" O'Brien wrote on X, while posting pictures of injured workers and leaders. "What's going on in Bengal? Humayun Kabir, IPS ex-MLA, ex-minister, brutally attacked by BJP goons at the gate of Purba Jadavpur PS with 50 policemen watching. He is currently a hostage inside the PS, bleeding while goons try to break open the gates of the PS," party MP Mahua Moitra posted on X.
The BJP, meanwhile, denied all allegations, countering that Trinamool Congress workers had attacked its supporters without any provocation. A local BJP leader said that a party worker was taking video footage of the TMC's programme, which allegedly angered Trinamool workers. The TMC supporters confronted and attacked the BJP worker, leading to clashes, he alleged. The BJP's Jadavpur MLA Sarbori Mukherjee claimed that the scuffle was a manifestation of "ordinary people resisting the TMC's attempt to re-establish goonda raj in the area". "The Trinamool is purposely trying to create unrest in the area by pushing in anti-social elements who have been long rejected by the people," she said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.