The Delhi Police on Monday rejected allegations made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that a Bengali-speaking woman and her child were assaulted in the national capital, calling the viral video she shared “fabricated” and “politically motivated.”
The video, posted on social media by Banerjee, alleged that the woman and her child were targeted by Delhi Police personnel for speaking Bengali. However, Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Abhishek Dhania refuted the claim, stating that the video was misleading.
“Upon inquiry, we identified the woman as Sanjanu Parveen. During questioning, she alleged that on the night of July 26, four men in plainclothes posing as police personnel took her and her child to a secluded spot and demanded Rs 25,000, which she claimed to have paid,” Dhania was quoted as saying in an ANI video.
He further said that investigations based on CCTV footage and local intelligence revealed discrepancies in Parveen’s version of events. “During sustained questioning, the woman admitted that her relative, a political worker from Malda district in West Bengal, had asked her to make the video. The video was then circulated locally in Bengal and later surfaced on social media,” he added.
Dhania described the claims as “baseless and fabricated” adding, “It appeared to be a deliberate attempt to malign the image of Delhi police through a politically motivated narrative.” He noted that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
On Tuesday, however, Mamata Banerjee doubled down on her claim, saying that the woman and her child were "threatened" following the alleged assault.
"They were taken to various police stations just as I had predicted yesterday. They were threatened. We want them to come back, and whoever is speaking the truth and who is lying will be proved eventually," Banerjee said at an event in Birbhum district.
Banerjee reiterated her appeal for the return of Bengali-speaking workers from BJP-ruled states if they are being harassed.
She had initially posted the video on Sunday, saying: “Atrocious!! Terrible!! See how Delhi police brutally beat up a kid and his mother, members of a migrant family from Malda's Chanchal. See how even a child is not spared from the cruelty of violence in the regime of linguistic terror unleashed by BJP in the country against the Bengalis! Where are they taking our country now?”
The incident involves a family identified as Muktar Khan, his wife Sajenur Bibi, their three children aged between seven and one-and-a-half years, and Khan’s elderly parents. The family was reportedly detained again by Delhi Police on Sunday night, just hours after Banerjee’s post, according to The Telegraph.
Muktar’s sister, Muktari Khatun, who resides in Pirojabad in Malda, filed a complaint with Chanchal police. “Two months back, they came to Malda and returned with their three children and our parents. On Friday night, a team of Delhi police visited their rented home and said they would be arrested for illegally living in India. They were assaulted and even their one-and-a-half-year-old son was beaten up,” she alleged. “Frightened, my brother and sister-in-law took refuge in a nearby park along with their children.”
She added, “Soon after the CM put up the post, Delhi police rushed to my brother’s rental house in Gita Colony around 9pm and detained all of them.”
Malda police have confirmed receiving the FIR and said they would raise the matter with their counterparts in Delhi. Meanwhile, Chanchal Trinamool Congress MLA Nihar Ranjan Ghosh supported the family, stating they are Indian citizens and called the reported assault and detention “unacceptable.”
Responding to the controversy, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya also took to social media to post details from the Delhi Police’s findings. “Delhi Police debunks West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” he wrote, referring to her July 27 post.
