Kolkata (West Bengal): Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee alleged on Saturday that his Kalighat residence in Kolkata was attacked at around 2 am by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, in a post on X in which he said the incident happened right under the watch of the Kolkata Police. He shared a video clip that he said showed a group of people creating a ruckus in front of his residence. The allegation has not been independently verified.

Source: Mirror Now

Banerjee said the alleged attack came during his birthday celebrations, after an alleged clash between Trinamool and BJP workers, and described it as the seventh attempt on his life in the last six months. In his post he wrote that after two days of continuous recce of his premises, BJP hooligans attacked his house at 2 am, that there had been no police action and no judicial intervention, and he accused the judiciary of remaining a mute spectator.

Source: ANI via The Daily Jagran

The allegation is a major escalation of the claim Awaaz Punjab reported on Friday, when Banerjee alleged that unidentified people had been conducting reconnaissance of his office and residence for two days and, when confronted, identified themselves as police personnel — a surveillance allegation he said raised the question of who had authorised state police to monitor an elected MP. After the alleged midnight attack, Banerjee called for a comprehensive inquiry and said he had drawn the attention of the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Ministry of Home Affairs and state and city police authorities to both the alleged surveillance and the alleged attack.

According to Hindustan Times, Banerjee said there was a conspiracy to kill him and staged a dharna that continued till 6.30 am on Saturday.

Source: Hindustan Times via Inshorts

Allegation, not established fact

Banerjee's account is an allegation by a political leader about his political opponents. Kolkata Police have not, in the reports available so far, confirmed the identity of the people seen outside his residence or that BJP workers carried out an attack. Awaaz Punjab is reporting the claim, the video Banerjee shared and the response from the other side — not treating the allegation as proven.

Responding for the other side, West Bengal minister Dilip Ghosh dismissed the claim. Speaking to ANI in New Town, Ghosh said this was the first time a politician's birthday was being celebrated on the footpath, that a disturbance was bound to draw a backlash, and asked who had the time to kill Abhishek Banerjee, saying the TMC leader had nothing left to say or do and was attempting to mislead people by raising the issue.

Source: ANI via The Daily Jagran

What happens next rests with the police and the authorities Banerjee has written to: whether Kolkata Police register a case over the alleged 2 am incident, what the video footage he shared shows on independent examination, and whether the inquiry he has demanded into the alleged surveillance and attack is ordered.