- Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee summoned by Tripura court for 2021 police assault case
- Incident occurred after West Bengal elections amid COVID-19 during police arrest of Trinamool workers
- Summons requires Abhishek Banerjee to appear in court on June 22, says prosecution lawyer
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee has been summoned by a Tripura court in an old case dating back to 2021 when he allegedly assaulted some policemen in the state's Khowai district. The incident happened after the West Bengal assembly election and amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The court has told him to appear before it on June 22.
The latest court summon means more difficulties ahead for the leader whose party, the Trinamool Congress, and his aunt, Mamata Banerjee, have been fending off an existential crisis following their defeat in the recent state elections.
In 2021, the police in Tripura's Khowai district had arrested 14 Trinamool workers for violating Covid safety rules. To free them, Abhishek Banerjee and other leaders including Kunal Ghosh, Dola Sena and Brapta Nasu rushed to the police station and allegedly attacked police officers.
"When COVID safety rules were on, 14 Trinamool workers were arrested by the police in Khowai for violating norms. Later, Abhishek Banerjee and the others came to secure their release and misbehaved with the police. So a case was filed against them then. The court has issued notice now," prosecution lawyer Abhijit Bhattacharjee said.
Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh, who was with Abhishek Banerjee when the 2021 incident happened, received the summons on the younger leader's behalf.
Abhishek Banerjee faces other kinds of summons too, one of them from the Bengal police's criminal investigation department (CID). He has challenged the summons he received over alleged mismatch in signatures of MLAs who he claimed supported him.
Both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee had gone to Delhi to attend a meeting of the opposition bloc INDIA.
The Trinamool seems headed for a painful implosion ever since it lost the election, with many MLAs publicly announcing their intent to represent what they called the "real Trinamool" without Abhishek Banerjee.
Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee is the latest person to attack Abhishek Banerjee over what he called his "arrogance" and "misbehaviour", and threatened to quit the party if Mamata Banerjee feels she can't run the party without her controversial nephew.
"He (Abhishek) thinks of himself as a king, even in the bad days. Meanwhile, I have stood for the party, behind Mamata Banerjee, during the bad days. It is impossible for me to work because of this arrogant attitude of Abhishek Banerjee. Now let Didi decide what should be done," he said.
The party has been plagued by a series of resignations from the Rajya Sabha. Trinamool MP Prakash Chik Baraik quit from the upper house yesterday, becoming the third Trinamool MP to do so within a week after Sushmita Dev and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.
Rebel Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has claimed a group of 20 MPs sought separate seating arrangements in the Lok Sabha and expressed support for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
