KOLKATA: Congress spokesperson Kaustav Bagchi was arrested in the wee hours of Saturday for his alleged comments against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a day after the result of the Sagardighi by-election.
On Friday, Bagchi (a lawyer) held a press conference where he referred to a book written by former IAS officer Deepak Kumar Ghosh, which reportedly had some references about the CM's personal life.
Bagchi said that since Mamata has started making personal attacks by referring to the suicide of Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury`s daughter, he would now counter them by circulating soft copies of Ghosh's book through WhatsApp.
The arrest evoked strong criticism from all corners, including from within the Trinamool Congress.
Although police slapped Bagchi with non-bailable charges, the additional chief judicial magistrate of Bankshall court granted the accused bail after an argument between the public prosecutor and the defence lawyers over the timing of the police action and justification of the arrest.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh condemned Bagchi’s arrest.
A complaint was lodged against Bagchi at the Burtolla police station in north Kolkata. On Saturday, around 3.30, a large contingent of police personnel surrounded Bagchi’s house.
"They failed to produce an arrest warrant. My son told them that he would go to the police station in the morning. But the men in uniform did not pay any heed to his plea and they left with my son. Kaustav was arrested illegally and we had confidence that he would be granted bail," said Bagchi’s father, Kushal.
"My son referred a book which is not banned. If the reference was wrong, then the government should have banned the book," Kushal added.
Bagchi was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) charges of 120B (criminal conspiracy), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman).
In a social media post, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Bagchi’s comment insulted the chief minister but the workers of the party’s students and youth wing could have dealt with it.
"The police operation was not right. It will handover oppositions a political tool to use against us," he wrote. Ghosh, however, described his comment as his personal opinion.
Condemning the arrest, CPI (M) central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty said the chief minister and her state government are showing extreme levels of autocracy.