Police complaint filed against TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee over social media post

A complaint has been lodged against Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over a social media post that allegedly had the potential to disturb communal harmony, police said on Thursday.

The complaint was filed at Bhowanipur Police Station by Arnab Kanti Das, who described the Diamond Harbour MP’s post as “highly irresponsible”.

Police confirmed that a copy of the social media post, allegedly made on 2 May, had been submitted along with the complaint, following which a preliminary inquiry was initiated.

“We have received the complaint and started a preliminary probe into the allegations mentioned in it. Necessary legal steps will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry,” a senior Kolkata Police officer said.

The latest complaint comes just days after an FIR was registered against Banerjee at the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime police station over alleged provocative remarks made during election campaigning.

That FIR was lodged following a complaint by Baguiati resident Rajib Sarkar regarding remarks allegedly made by the TMC leader during a public rally on 27 April.

During the rally, Banerjee had reportedly challenged the BJP and said he would see “who comes to save them after midnight on 4 May”, triggering a political controversy and sharp reactions from opposition parties.

The back-to-back complaints against the Trinamool Congress MP come amid heightened political tensions in West Bengal following the Assembly election campaign, with both the ruling party and opposition BJP accusing each other of inflammatory rhetoric.

Neither Abhishek Banerjee nor the Trinamool Congress immediately reacted to the latest complaint.

With PTI inputs