KOLKATA: A day after the BJP accused the Trinamool Congress of police brutality during the party’s protest, CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday said that the injured police officer, who was allegedly assaulted by saffron party men, should have fired at the head of the attackers.
Abhishek, after visiting Assistant Commissioner of Police Debjeet Chatterjee at the SSKM Hospital, said, ‘’He was unarmed and carrying only a wireless set. Had he not worn a helmet, his head would have been smashed. Had I been in his place and carried a firearm, I would have fired here (pointing at his forehead).”
In a 23-minute video uploaded on Abhishek’s Facebook page, he said, “Had I been in his place” I would have shot at the temples of my attackers.”
In a counter, BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya questioned whether there is a difference between police and “jihadis”. ‘’Is pelting stones on peaceful protestors standard operating procedure for crowd management in the police manual? This is what the Bengal police did yesterday, grievously injuring several protestors. Shouldn’t be there a difference between a professional force and jihadis?’’ he tweeted.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh described the allegation as baseless. “It was an unruly mob that had attacked the policemen. Police did what the situation demanded,” he said.