Senior Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien on Monday skipped his appearance before Kolkata Police in connection with last week’s scuffle outside party MP Abhishek Banerjee’s office on Camac Street, with his lawyers questioning the validity of the summons.
O’Brien had been summoned to appear at Shakespeare Sarani police station at noon for questioning over the August 27 confrontation during a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) drive to remove an allegedly unauthorised hoarding from the premises.
His lawyers informed the police that the summons was “not in order” and that the TMC MP would therefore not appear before the investigating officer on Monday.
The development came a day after police served a similar notice on TMC national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, asking him to appear for questioning on Tuesday in connection with the same incident.
A three-member team from Shakespeare Sarani police station visited Banerjee’s residence on Prince Anwar Shah Road on Sunday morning to serve the notice. As he was away, his staff accepted the summons on his instructions, according to police sources.
Police had also attempted to serve the notice on Saturday evening.
The summons to O’Brien followed the emergence of CCTV footage purportedly showing him attempting to prevent police personnel from entering the Camac Street premises during the civic body’s drive.
Police have registered three separate FIRs in connection with the incident, invoking provisions relating to assault, obstruction of public servants and rioting. Banerjee’s summons relates to two of the cases, police sources said.
(With inputs from PTI)
