The Trinamool Congress faction loyal to Mamata Banerjee lodged four police complaints in Calcutta and adjoining areas against the rebel camp led by Ritabrata Banerjee, accusing it of illegally using the party’s name, symbol and organisational identity to mislead workers and the public.

The complaints, alleging impersonation, fraud and criminal conspiracy, were filed over the past 24 hours at Kalighat, Pragati Maidan, New Town and Bidhannagar Cyber police stations.

While Kalighat and Pragati Maidan police stations fall under the city Police limits, the New Town and Bidhannagar Cyber police stations are under the Bidhannagar Police.

Apart from Ritabrata, the complaints name Arup Roy, Javed Khan, Sandipan Saha and Biplob Mitra. The Kalighat camp of Trinamool has alleged that the rebel bloc “dishonestly and fraudulently impersonated the holders of significant party offices with the clear intention to deceive and mislead the members and functionaries of the AITC”.

Describing it as a planned attempt to weaken the party’s organisational structure, Trinamool national joint secretary Dola Sen said: “This act of impersonation is part of a larger, premeditated criminal conspiracy. The targeted disinformation campaign is a calculated attempt to sow seeds of discord, create factions, and undermine the established leadership and discipline of the AITC by creating a parallel and unauthorised channel of communication.”

In one of the complaints filed by Sen as the “authorised representative”, the Mamata Banerjee-led faction alleged: “The entire exercise constitutes a fraudulent misuse of the name, goodwill and reputation of the All India Trinamool Congress.”

The complaint further accused the Ritabrata camp of creating confusion among party workers and former elected representatives, damaging the party’s reputation and credibility, misleading members into attending an unauthorised meeting and facilitating further unlawful activities through misuse of the party’s name and identity.

Ritabrata dismissed the complaints.

“Anyone can file a complaint. There are laws and the Election Commission in the country. Let us trust in those laws and the Election Commission,” he said.

The legal offensive comes days after the rebel camp convened what it described as a “special session” of Trinamool at a hotel in New Town on June 22.

During the meeting, the Ritabrata faction announced the formation of a national working committee in the presence of several party MLAs and former MLAs.

Neither Mamata Banerjee nor Abhishek Banerjee found a place in the newly constituted committee.

The Kalighat camp believes that influential figures operating behind the scenes are backing the rebellion.

In a complaint addressed to the officer in charge of New Town police station, the Mamata loyalists requested the police to identify these alleged “spymasters”.

Since the hotel where the meeting was held falls within the jurisdiction of New Town police station, the complaint was lodged there seeking a detailed investigation.

The Mamata Banerjee-led faction has also challenged
the legitimacy of the organisational positions claimed by leaders of the rebel camp. It referred to a letter submitted by Ritabrata to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Basu last Monday, in which he identified himself as Trinamool’s “general secretary”. The Kalighat leadership has asserted that no such organisational post has ever been assigned to Ritabrata by the party.

In another complaint addressed to the officer in charge of Kalighat police station, Sen alleged that Javed Khan and Sandipan Saha, falsely claiming to be party general secretaries, convened a meeting of all Trinamool councillors of Calcutta on Saturday afternoon. According to the complaint, the rebel leaders are attempting to operate a parallel organisational structure to mislead party workers and supporters.

Seeking criminal action, Sen appealed to the police to register an FIR based on complaints and conduct a “clear and thorough” investigation into the alleged conspiracy behind the parallel organisational activities.