A man seen thumping the bonnet of a vehicle outside Sakhawat Memorial school on Thursday night, protesting chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s presence at the strongroom centre, has been identified not as a disgruntled city voter but as a man from Gujarat who says he is on a mission to “save Bengal”.

Deep Prajapati, a native of Surat and a self-described “active BJP karyakarta”, had arrived in Calcutta a few days earlier and was staying in Bhabanipur, sources said.

When questioned by journalists after the protests about where he was from, he avoided a direct answer and said his primary identity was that of an Indian.

Prajapati was filmed repeatedly striking the bonnet of a vehicle bearing a Mamata Banerjee poster that was parked outside the venue. He said the Trinamool had no right to park its vehicle close to the school’s boundary wall.

He even approached central forces deployed at the site, but no action was taken. Many witnesses said this indicated there was little for authorities to address in Trinamool’s parking of the vehicle.

Mamata, who had visited the strongroom centre that night, later referred to Prajapati’s social media “live” broadcast to highlight that a man had travelled all the way from Gujarat to be active in Bengal politics.

“I am an Indian citizen, and I have the right to go anywhere. I am free to support anyone. I have come here to meet my relatives. I have come here as a tourist. We all know the condition of Bengal. What is wrong if I document that?” Prajapati said on Thursday.

He added that he was not in Calcutta to vote. “There is no vote today, which means I can roam around anywhere. I have come on my own and was not brought by any political party. I know the condition of the Bengali youth. Bas Bangal ko bachana hai. Yuva hone ke natey ye meri jawabdari hai (My aim is to save Bengal. As a youth, this is my responsibility),” he said.

Prajapati’s social media accounts feature multiple videos critical of the Mamata government. In one Facebook post from Thursday, he captioned his live feed: “Mamata dar chuki hai (Mamata is scared)”. In another, he wrote: “Strongroom is safe, parivartan ki leher” (The strongroom is safe; winds of change are rising).

Sources in the Bhabanipur constituency said Prajapati had been spotted in the area in the days leading up to the elections on Wednesday but had not been seen since his identity became public.

“I met him a few days ago at a tea stall. He was staying with a family here. But he has not been seen around since Friday,” said a resident of Chakraberia on Saturday.

Despite claiming to be in the city to visit relatives, Prajapati’s social media videos show him travelling across Bengal and interacting only with BJP functionaries and individuals critical of the state government. Some of these videos, uploaded to his YouTube channel more than a month ago, show him in districts such as Birbhum, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar.

Mamata has repeatedly alleged that the BJP relies on outsiders to bolster its organisational strength in Bengal and influence elections.