TMC billboard row: 13 arrested; 3 FIRs against Abhishek, Derek O’Brien

Kolkata Police have arrested 13 Trinamool Congress activists and registered three cases following a confrontation over the removal of an allegedly illegal billboard from the roof of Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee’s office on Camac Street in central Kolkata.

The dispute erupted on Thursday afternoon and continued into the night, after officials from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), accompanied by police, arrived at 9 Camac Street to remove the billboard.

In a statement issued on Friday morning, Kolkata Police said the three cases registered at Shakespeare Sarani Police Station include several non-bailable provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

Two of the cases name Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, and party leaders Humayun Kabir and Baishwanar Chatterjee, among others. The third case, based on a complaint by an officer of the adjacent Park Street Police Station, has been registered against unidentified persons.

According to police, the KMC had sought police assistance in writing to remove the allegedly illegal hoarding. Police and civic officials subsequently reached the premises, where a group of Trinamool supporters allegedly gathered and prevented them from entering.

Police have alleged that protesters obstructed officials from carrying out the civic order, used abusive language and threatened personnel. They have also alleged that police officers and municipal workers were assaulted, including a woman police officer who was allegedly beaten and subjected to an attempt to outrage her modesty.

The confrontation intensified after Abhishek Banerjee and his associates challenged the validity of the KMC's removal order. Banerjee reportedly argued that the copy of the notice did not carry a photograph of the billboard and therefore questioned its legality.

KMC officials initially returned to obtain a revised order before coming back to the premises with the amended document.

This time, police cordoned off the area as civic officials moved towards the building's roof to dismantle the billboard. Trinamool supporters, including women activists, allegedly formed a human chain on the staircase in an attempt to stop them.

A scuffle subsequently broke out between police and the party supporters. Police eventually cleared the staircase, allowing KMC personnel to reach the roof and dismantle and remove the billboard.

The incident has since escalated into a legal confrontation, with police initiating action against those accused of obstructing officials and allegedly assaulting personnel.

The arrests and cases come amid heightened political tensions in Kolkata over the enforcement of civic regulations and the removal of unauthorised structures and advertisements.

With IANS inputs