India
TMC Worker Arrested After Vandalism at CPI(M) Leader’s Home; CM Adhikari Calls for Legal Action Against Bhattacharya’s Social Media Post
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on Friday that a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker had been arrested for vandalising the Kolkata home of CPI(M) leader and lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya the day before. Adhikari said he had asked the state advocate general, Surajit Nath Mitra, to assure Bhattacharya that the government would not tolerate lawlessness and had instructed the police commissioner to file a case based on Bhattacharya’s complaint.
Bhattacharya had alleged on Thursday that a man on a motorcycle had entered his home around 6:30–7:00 a.m., shouted insults and threw several empty liquor bottles, whose shards scattered across the staircase inside the house. He also posted on social media blaming Hindutva groups for the incident.
Adhikari identified the arrested man as Bappa Guchhait, a TMC worker, and said two first information reports (FIRs) had been lodged against Bhattacharya at Garfa and Kasba police stations for his social media post. He warned that if Bhattacharya did not remove the reference to Hindus, the police would take action and the government would ask the social media platform to delete the post.
CPI(M) state committee member Shatarup Ghosh noted that Guchhait’s social media profile shows photos of him posing with BJP leaders, despite being identified as a TMC member.
Bhattacharya expressed satisfaction that the complainants had voluntarily identified themselves. He had previously accused a man on a motorcycle of vandalising his home.
TMC spokesperson Baiswanar Chatterjee said the party could not recall a worker named Bappa Guchhait and would verify the arrested man’s background before commenting.
The CPI-ML (Liberation) also expressed solidarity with Bhattacharya, who had earlier served as Kolkata mayor and advocate general of Tripura.