Abhishek Banerjee paused suddenly as he walked towards the elevator at Bhabani Bhawan.
Someone told him he had to sign the register meant for any ordinary visitor to the state police headquarters.
Abhishek walked to a counter next to the gate, waited as the details were filled in, and was then escorted to the elevator again.
The Trinamool national general secretary reached Bhabani Bhawan in a black Toyota Fortuner at 5.48pm.
The main gate of the compound, shut until then, was opened to let Abhishek’s car through. Hundreds of cameras flashed. But they could barely see the man seated inside as a group of burly security men stood on the car’s footboard, covering the windows.
A battery of senior Kolkata Police officers was waiting at the main gate.
On any ordinary day, streams of people navigate the Bhabani Bhawan compound. People clutching files, security guards refusing parking to vehicles and the hubbub of a bustling government office compound are unmissable. On Thursday, the contrast was striking.
The entire compound was off-limits to ordinary visitors. Only police in uniform and civvies. A barricade made of guardrails was placed on the pathway, just over 100m from the main gate.
The stretch of Alipore that houses Bhabani Bhawan is also home to the Alipore court and several other government offices. On Thursday, the other compounds were still busy but not as chaotic as usual.
On Thursday, scores of men in uniform — from the police, central forces and RAF — were deployed on both flanks of Belvedere Road for at least 90 minutes before Abhishek’s arrival.
Every time a car slowed down on that stretch for someone to get off or out of curiosity, a cop nudged the driver to keep moving.
Curious onlookers were ticked off now and then.
A group of Trinamool supporters arrived after 5pm. The group was asked to move to the opposite flank, near the Alipore police station.
“Bengal’s politics has stooped so low. Abhishek had eggs, even stones, thrown at him. We are here to thwart any such attempts,” said one of the supporters.
Her fear was not unfounded.
A woman wearing a mask said she had come to throw rotten eggs at the leader. “But rotten eggs have become too costly,” she said.
The women was escorted away from the gates.
The supporters’ group shouted Abhishek Banerjee zindabad when the Trinamool national general secretary arrived at Bhabani Bhawan.
Less than a couple of hours ago, “chor, chor” slogans were heard outside the airport as Abhishek came out of the arrival gates. He left the airport around 4.15pm. He made his way from the arrival gates to his car through hundreds of booms and cameras.
Abhishek did not go to Bhabani Bhawan from the airport. He first went to his home at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street. It was a very short stop, and he left the Kalighat address at 5.42pm.