FIR against BJP’s bypoll pick, 3 MPs for stir near Didi house

Bhowanipore Assembly bypoll BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal and three party MPs, including new state unit president Sukanta Majumdar, were booked in a suo moto case by the Kolkata police for allegedly protesting with the body of their party worker near West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat of southern parts of the city on Thursday evening.

Ms Tibrewal is contesting against the Trinamul Congress supremo at Bhowanipore. Apart from Mr Majumdar who is a Balurghat parliamentarian, the other Lok Sabha MPs are Arjun Singh of Barrackpore and Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato of Purulia.

Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation) of the Indian Penal Code were slapped on all of them in the FIR initiated by the Kalighat police station. Mr Majumdar was seen running towards the hearse van carrying the body of BJP worker, Dhurjoti Saha, when it was crossing Kalighat Bridge. He then sat down in front of it blocking the way and started protesting Saha's murder. Other BJP leaders joined him also.

The cops removed the state BJP chief forcibly from the road during a scuffle with the party leaders. On Friday the BJP accused deputy commissioner of police (South) Akash Meghariya of molesting Ms Tibrewal during the scuffle. It also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the young IPS officer.

Saha was fielded by the BJP at Mograhat West in South 24 Parganas in the recent Assembly polls but lost to Giyasuddin Mollah of the TMC over 97,000 votes.