KOLKATA: A police complaint was lodged by Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s office against Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim’s Officer on Special Duty Kalicharan Banerjee, accusing him of misusing the MP’s name to extort money from contractors.
The extortion complaint, filed at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station on Thursday evening, has triggered speculations on TMC internal rift.
“We received letters from numerous people, claiming that the OSD has been seeking financial favours on the pretext of helping them secure government contracts. He was using Abhishek Banerjee’s name while seeking such favours. Subsequently, we decided to lodge a police complaint,” Banerjee’s office said.
Hakim, however, said that he had never received such complaints before and questioned the validity of the claims. He said if there had been any official complaint, he himself would have investigated the matter.
The incident highlights the underlying tensions between Banerjee and Hakim, who is considered close to Mamata Banerjee, according to sources. Citing differences of opinion between two senior party leaders have raised questions about whether this complaint is part of a larger political play.
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, added fuel to the political fire, alleging that Kalicharan Banerjee is involved in mismanagement
of funds related to the reconstruction of the Trinamool Bhavan. Adhikari said that Hakim’s OSD owns multiple properties in the city.