KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday challenged the Delhi Police, a day after they refuted her allegation that officers had brutally beaten a child and her mother, members of a Bengali migrant worker’s family, in the national capital.
On Sunday, Banerjee had posted a video on her X handle and made the allegation for the first time. In her address at a public meeting at Bolpur in Birbhum district on Monday, she reiterated the claim. Later on Monday evening, Delhi Police’s DCP (East), Abhishek Dhania, held a press conference to refute the allegation.
Challenging the Delhi Police on the issue, the Chief Minister said, “I had spoken about that child yesterday. They were taken to one police station after another. I had said this in the meeting yesterday. Check the record. I had said that they would be threatened. That is what happened. We will want them (the ‘affected’ people) to return. And it will be proven who is true and who is false.” She was addressing an administrative meeting at Illambazar in Birbhum on Tuesday.
Sharing a video on her X handle on Sunday, where a young man was heard accusing the police of beating his wife and infant son, Banerjee had said, “Atrocious!! Terrible!! See how Delhi Police brutally beat up a kid and his mother, members of a migrant family from Malda's Chanchal. See how even a child is not spared from the cruelty of violence in the regime of linguistic terror unleashed by BJP in the country against the Bengalis!”
“Where are they taking our country now?” she had asked.
In the video posted by the Chief Minister, a young man is seen showing some injury marks on his infant son and saying, “Look what the police did to my son. The police beat him and broke his forehead.”
He is also heard complaining in the video that all their essentials had been thrown away. The young man's wife is also seen in the video. He is seen pointing to his wife and saying, “The police also beat her up a lot.” (Although The New Indian Express has not verified the authenticity of this video.)
After Banerjee posted the video on her X platform, Delhi Police launched an investigation. DCP (East) Abhishek Dhania said on Monday that investigators went to the woman’s house after identifying her from the video. During interrogation, the woman alleged that four Delhi Police personnel in plain clothes came to her house at 10:30 pm on 26 July and took her to a secluded place. After that, they allegedly demanded ₹25,000 from her.
Dhania said that a special team was formed to investigate the incident after understanding the gravity of the situation. Police examined CCTV footage and used other technical resources during the probe.
When the woman was questioned, she allegedly confessed that she has a relative in Malda who is a political activist. According to police, the woman claimed that she made the video under his instructions. Later, it was circulated.
Dhania said, “The video was deliberately spread on social media to tarnish the image of Delhi Police. The investigation into the incident is underway.”
Armed with the Delhi Police’s statement, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said, “I have asked Soumendu (Suvendu’s brother and BJP MP from Contai Lok Sabha constituency Soumendu Adhikari) to file a complaint at the police station.” Taking a dig at the Chief Minister, he added, “The Chief Minister is spreading false news. She can get an international award for spreading rumours.”
Later in the day, Soumendu lodged a complaint against Mamata Banerjee at the Cyber Crime Branch of Delhi Police for the “dissemination of fake and communally provocative content on social media”.
He said, “Based on the complaint of a woman from Malda, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is trying to destroy communal harmony by posting a fake picture. I have filed a written complaint against the Chief Minister in Delhi, mentioning that incident.”