KOLKATA: Shortly before Mamata Banerjee leaves her Kalighat home to attend the party’s annual event-Martyr’s Day-at Esplanade, police rounded up a suspect moving in a vehicle, with police written on its windscreen, carrying a firearm, knife and drugs from near the West Bengal chief minister’s residence. Identity cards of security agencies were found in his possession and the suspect failed to come up with a satisfactory explanation.
“The person was spotted as soon as he parked his car in the high-security zone near the chief minister’s residence. Suspecting the vehicle suspicious, police swing into action and took out the suspect in black trousers, coat and tie with a white shirt, out of the car. A search on him recovered a firearm, a knife, drugs and identity cards of different agencies, which include the Border Security Force (BSF)from his possession. During the course of preliminary interrogation, the suspect claimed to have hailed from different parts of the state which needed to be verified,” said Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal.
The suspect said he wanted to meet the chief minister, a Z-plus security protectee, and our men intercepted him when he approached the chief minister’s residence.
Sources in the police said the suspect, who was identified as Noor Amin, was sitting inside the vehicle feigning to be a cop in mufti. “He got down and started walking towards the CM’s residence feigning to be a security agency’s personnel. When we intercepted him and asked for his identity, he produced an identity card from an intelligence wing which we suspected to be a forged one. Soon, a thorough search was carried out,” said a police officer.
In July last year, another suspect was arrested who was found hiding inside the premises of the chief minister’s residence hoodwinking a strong posse of policemen who were guarding the CM’s residence.