Rakesh Singh, the BJP candidate from Kolkata Port constituency, allegedly instigated an attack on police during a political clash in Ekbalpore on Monday evening.
A video purportedly shows Singh threatening to kill the officer-in-charge of the local Ekbalpore police station, who was trying to pacify the situation.
The footage shows Singh pointing his finger close to the officer’s face and shouting: “Tomake ami mere debo (I am going to kill you).”
The police said six personnel, including Harikrishna Pai, deputy commissioner (Port division), and Somnath Mandal, officer-in-charge of Ekbalpore police station, were injured.
Singh did not take calls or respond to text messages from this newspaper till Tuesday evening.
Arrested several times in the past and facing criminal and narcotics cases, Singh does not feature on the Election Commission’s list of potential troublemakers. The Trinamool Congress has alleged that 800 of its leaders and candidates have been included in the same list, with the poll panel seeking police action against them.
The police have registered three FIRs in connection with the violence at Ekbalpore, including two suo motu cases against Singh and his associates. BJP supporters lodged the third FIR.
Nine people have been arrested till Tuesday evening. “Five of them are from the BJP, while four are from the Trinamool,” said an officer at Ekbalpore.
The police alleged that Singh and his supporters instigated the attack during which a constable’s body camera was snatched, and the port division deputy commissioner was robbed of his helmet and heckled.
Nine days before the city goes to the polls, the clash broke out outside Ekbalpore police station, where Singh and around 80 supporters staged a protest alleging that Trinamool activists had disrupted their street-corner meeting at Hossain Shah Park.
“It was an unlawful assembly outside the police station where Singh and his men were shouting slogans and agitating, causing a breach of peace. As the Trinamool members began to gather, our officers separated the two groups to prevent a clash. Persuaded, the Trinamool supporters moved back, but despite repeated requests, Singh and his men continued to shout provocative words towards them,” said an officer of the port division.
According to the police, deputy commissioner (Port division) Harikrishna Pai and other officers “repeatedly requested and instructed Singh and the accompanying supporters to disperse peacefully and not obstruct public movement or police duty.”
“The group, however, continued to be adamant and sat on Ekbalpore Road, shutting down traffic and blocking the way to the police station,” a senior officer said.
A resident of the area said that when the police tried to push back the agitators, Singh allegedly instructed his men to attack the policemen and threatened to kill the officer in charge in public view.
Several police personnel were attacked with lathis, the body camera on constable Ajay Deb Sharma was allegedly snatched, and the official vehicle of DC Port Division-II was damaged in the incident.
The injured police personnel were taken to a hospital in Alipore, where some were treated and discharged, while others, including the officer-in-charge Somnath Mandal, had to be admitted.
On Tuesday, Calcutta police commissioner Ajay Nand met Mandal in the hospital.
The charges, as listed in the FIRs, include unlawful assembly with common intention, wrongful restraint, obstruction of a public way, assault on public servants, use of criminal force to deter police personnel from discharging their duties, vandalism of government property, criminal intimidation, snatching of government property and attempting to snatch official firearms from the police.
Based on a complaint lodged by Ashutosh Jha, an advocate, the police registered the third FIR against a group of men for allegedly stopping Rakesh Singh, the BJP candidate, and his associates during their campaign.
