4 arrested in West Bengal over assault on TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee

Four people have been arrested for allegedly attacking Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee during his visit to Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district, police said on Sunday.

According to a senior police officer, the arrests were made during overnight raids based on video footage collected from the area.

Scores of people hurled stones, eggs and abuses at the Diamond Harbour MP, who escaped the mob wearing a cricket helmet and helped by aides on Saturday in Sonarpur town of South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.

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Banerjee was attacked when he went to visit the victims of post-poll violence, and later claimed that BJP activists were trying to kill him. Unidentified people scuffled with the leader and roughed him up while raising chants of “thief, thief”.

The situation quickly spiralled into chaos, with some members of the crowd reportedly attempting to physically attack Banerjee by raining blows and kicks on him, prompting swift intervention by security personnel.

An officer said that the police have registered a case in the matter suo motu, since neither Banerjee nor the Trinamool Congress had lodged a formal complaint till Sunday.

They will be produced before a court in Baruipur, police said.

Banerjee was later briefly admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata, from where he was discharged following primary medical attention.

Reacting sharply to the development, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee pointed fingers at the BJP.

“RULERS BECAME KILLERS- shame on you BJP!” she wrote on X.

The TMC chief, alongside party leaders Firhad Kakim and Derek O’Brien, also visited the hospital where Abhishek had checked in.

Denouncing the attack, BJP West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya said such incidents aren’t desirable in a healthy and normal society, while insisting that the saffron party was in no way involved.

“The BJP is not involved in such activities. But what happened could be the outcome of the anger of locals who were tortured over the years,” Bhattacharya said.