Three held for extortion attempt using Abhishek Banerjee’s name
Kolkata: Three people were arrested on charges of attempting extortion from the Kalna municipality chairman by using the name of Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s name.
They were arrested by the cops of Shakespeare Sarani Police Station from the MLA Hostel located on Kyd Street.
The accused have been identified as Junayedul Haque Chowdhury, a resident of Pursura in Hooghly, Subhadip Malik, a resident of Tarakeswar and Sk. Taslim, a resident of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road in Kolkata. A specific complaint was lodged by a Kalna resident on the basis of which the police started a probe. It was learnt that one of the accused used a WhatsApp number with the photograph of Banerjee.
One of the complainants allegedly impersonated himself as one of the high functionaries at the office of Banerjee.
Recently, Ananda Dutta, chairman of Kalna Municipality received a call from an unknown person who reportedly introduced himself as a representative of Abhishek Banerjee. The caller reportedly told Dutta that his performance was not up to the mark and might get removed from his post soon unless he paid about Rs five lakh.
It is also alleged that the accused had sent several forged documents on WhatsApp claiming that there are several complaints against Dutta. The chairman was told to hand over the money at the MLA Hostel.
After the chairman lodged a complaint at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station on Thursday, a case was registered. Taking immediate action, a police team went to the MLA Hostel along with Dutta from there three persons were arrested.
Meanwhile, Rabindranath Chatterjee, Trinamool district president in East Burdwan claimed that a similar call was made to the chairman of Katwa Municipality, Samir Kumar Saha. Chatterjee also claimed that the caller who introduced himself as Pratik Jain of I-Pac had asked both the chairmen to come to room number 317 at the MLA Hostel. Police have started a probe to find out how the accused persons had access to the MLA Hostel.
A few months ago, a police complaint was lodged by Abhishek Banerjee’s office against an official working with Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, accusing him of misusing the TMC MP’s name to extort money from contractors. A specific case was also started.
