Local TMC leader main name among 6 held for attack on Abhishek Banerjee

The starkest expression of the anger directed at the Trinamool Congress since its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections was witnessed on May 30, when its virtual No. 2 and once all-powerful Abhishek Banerjee was physically assaulted during a visit to Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality in South 24 Parganas district.

The TMC called the attack “planned and BJP-sponsored”, and shared videos to “prove” this. “If the BJP claims this attack was merely an expression of spontaneous public anger, then why was a key BJP functionary present at the scene playing such an active, directorial role?” the party posted on X.

However, of the six people arrested over the incident so far, including one who surrendered, the biggest name is that of a local TMC strongman. The five others are identified as “BJP supporters”.

Police have said they are looking for more people based on videos of the incident. All the six arrested are out on bail.

It was just 50 metres from the house of the arrested TMC leader, Nirmalya Sengupta, in Kamrabad in Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality, that Abhishek was heckled while on his way to the house of a deceased party worker – his first such visit since the results – and attacked with eggs, shoes and stones.

A banner on the two-storey building where Sengupta lives identifies it as the main office of the TMC’s ‘Jai Hind Bahini’. Locals said it has been locked since the day of the assault, on May 30.

Announced by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee in December 2014, Jai Hind Bahini is identified by the party as a youth outfit, named after the slogan given by Subhas Chandra Bose. In 2023, the Bengal government sanctioned Rs 2 crore for uniforms for the outfit, to be distributed to about 4,000 students in government and government-aided schools.

A member of a club in the area says: “Sengupta is one of the prominent TMC leaders of Ward No. 9. He was removed as president of the club after the BJP came to power in Bengal. We saw him that day in the crowd during the incident. After that, we have not seen him. His home is locked too.”

A second accused, Tapan Maity, lives about a 5-min drive from Sengupta’s residence. His wife Madhabi says that Maity, a clerk at the City Sessions Court of the Session Division of Kolkata, is not at home. Identifying him as “just a BJP supporter… not even a worker”, she says: “He likes the BJP. Like all other people here, he went to the spot after hearing that Abhishek was coming. He is 54 years old. He did not have anything to do with the incident.”

The family says that after the 2021 Assembly elections brought the TMC back to power, Maity had to leave home for 10 days due to his association with the BJP. “We lived in fear then,” says Maity’s daughter Tiasa, a law student,

Pointing out that Maity was picked up at odd hours – “2 am on May 30-31 night” – she says: “They know my father since he works at the court. They said they wanted him to come to the police station to identify some people. Later they arrested him.”

A third accused, 26-year-old Akash Gayen, who lives about a kilometre away, in the Kamrabad area, is described by his family as “a football player”. The family ekes out a living on the meagre earnings of Akash’s father, a cycle cart puller.

“I don’t understand how and why Akash has got involved in all this. He used to just sit at the TMC booth office. After his arrest, I heard he had taken pictures with BJP (Sonarpur Dakshin) MLA Rupa Ganguly. When he got bail and returned home, his father beat him up. He left home and has not been back,” says mother Sankari Gayen.

Kajol Das, 41, the fourth accused, lives near Sonarpur Railway Station, and works at a barber shop. He says he and a friend, Debasish Dutta, were “drinking near the station at night when we were picked up”, hours after the attack on Abhishek.

He has been a BJP supporter since 2014 and also attended party rallies during the elections, Das says. “After we were arrested, I somehow contacted local BJP leaders, who promised help,” says Das, who is married and has two children.

Dutta, who lives nearby, works in the Electric Department of Boral municipality. At his home, a help says the family is away.

The accused who surrendered, 35-year-old Sontu Bose, is a mason by profession and lives at Subhaspalli nearby. The family says that while his younger brother Sujit is a BJP worker, Sontu does not have any political association.

Their mother Usha says: “Sontu was just standing in a queue with everyone else to see Abhishek during his visit. A man standing beside him threw something at Abhishek. I saw this myself on a TV channel… But the same day, at 3 am, police came to our house. Later, Sontu surrendered.”

Sujit adds: “You can talk to anybody in our locality. They will all say Sontu is not the kind to attack anyone.”

A police officer of South 24 Parganas said, “We arrested six people based on footage of the incident. They got bail but our investigation is on.”