Berliner Tageblatt - Kolkata police register new FIR against Mamata Banerjee over rally timing

The Trinamool Congress Chhattra Parishad foundation-day programme was held on Cathedral Road on August 28. The High Court permitted the event from noon until 3 p.m., but it continued beyond the deadline because Banerjee had not completed her speech.

The FIR was registered on a written complaint by Hastings police sub-inspector Apu Baidya under Sections 61(2), 223, 125(a), 132 and 285 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. A police statement alleged that Banerjee entered a criminal conspiracy by provoking supporters, after which members of the crowd pushed barricades, jostled officers, disrupted order and obstructed one side of Cathedral Road.

Trinamool spokesperson and Beleghata legislator Kunal Ghosh called the case politically motivated. He said organisers tried to finish on time and argued that police were responsible for managing larger-than-expected attendance.

Police had filed a similar FIR accusing Banerjee of breaching High Court conditions at the party’s Shahid Dibas rally at the same site on July 21. The latest allegations have not been adjudicated.

M.Ouellet--BTB