Arrested Trinamool Congress vice-president Jayprakash Majumdar was pelted with eggs by angry residents on Friday when police took him to a flat in Salt Lake near the city for a search in connection with a case alleging illegal occupation of the property and intimidation of its owner.
Police personnel escorting Majumdar had to shield him and quickly take him inside the flat as residents gathered outside and hurled eggs while shouting slogans against him.
Majumdar was arrested on Wednesday by Bidhannagar North Police Station based on a complaint alleging that he had occupied the flat for years and threatened the owner when asked to vacate the premises or pay rent.
The development took place a month after the BJP defeated the TMC and came to power in Bengal. The property owner had alleged that Majumdar rented the flat in Salt Lake in 2014 but continued to occupy it despite repeated requests to vacate.
The complainant also alleged that attempts to collect rent or seek possession of the property were met with threats and intimidation.
According to police sources, investigators took the arrested leader to the flat on Friday as part of the probe. As soon as he got down from the police vehicle, a crowd surrounded him and began protesting, accusing him of illegally retaining possession of the property.
Several eggs were thrown at him before the police escorted him into the building.
Tension flared in the area on Wednesday before Majumdar's arrest when locals staged a protest against him. Witnesses said residents surrounded the leader, raised slogans of "chor, chor" (thief, thief) and demanded that he vacate the property.
Police later intervened and took him to the police station before formally arresting him.
Friday's incident was not the first time that Majumdar has faced public hostility.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign, when he was a BJP candidate from Karimpur, a video showing him being kicked and pushed into a marshy field during a political confrontation went viral on social media.
The BJP then accused TMC workers of being behind the attack. Majumdar later quit the saffron party and joined the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit in 2021.
Police said the investigation into the property-related allegations is underway.
Over the past few weeks, top leaders from TMC have been subject to public anger on the streets, including slogans of "chor, chor" (thief), physical manhandling and egg attacks. On Saturday, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee faced similar public anger, during his visit to families of post-poll violence victims in Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas district.
On May 28, senior TMC MP Sougata Roy experienced a similarly volatile ambush at the Nimta police station, where the 78-year-old leader was heckled and called a "thief" by an angry mob, which hurled eggs at his car when he was leaving the area.