3 weeks ago
West Bengal LoP Banerjee reports death threats from Bangladesh-based numbers
Ritabrata Banerjee is an important leader in West Bengal, a state in India.
He is the leader of the opposition, which means he leads the political party that did not win the election.
He told the police that people from another country, Bangladesh, kept calling him on WhatsApp with scary messages.
The callers warned that he could be hurt or killed, just like a blogger named Avijit Roy who was killed in Dhaka many years ago.
The calls started in May and continued until August.
Mr. Banerjee went to the police headquarters in Kolkata to ask for help.
Around the same time, police in West Bengal arrested people suspected of planning harmful activities.
Police say there is no proof yet that the phone threats and those arrests are connected.
Mr. Banerjee is also involved in a big disagreement inside his own political party, the Trinamool Congress.
Some party members are unhappy with leader Mamata Banerjee and support Mr. Banerjee instead.
Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, approached the police alleging repeated death threats from Bangladesh-based phone numbers over the last three months.
The threats were delivered via WhatsApp calls between May 3 and August 9, with callers warning Banerjee he would meet the fate of Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy, hacked to death in Dhaka in 2015.
The complaint comes amid heightened security concerns in West Bengal after the arrest of suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed operative Hamim Mondal, whose module allegedly surveilled Suvendu Adhikari, though police have indicated no link to the threats.
Banerjee is the principal face of the rebellion that has split the Trinamool Congress after its Assembly election defeat, with the rebel camp claiming support of around 65 of the party's 80 MLAs.
The rebels have set up a rival organisational structure, elected senior MLA Arup Roy as chairperson, and a large section of the party's Lok Sabha contingent has aligned with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India and the BJP-led NDA.
- Who
- Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and rebel Trinamool Congress leader; the threats came from Bangladesh-based phone numbers.
- What
- Banerjee filed a police complaint alleging repeated death threats made through WhatsApp calls over the last three months.
- Where
- Kolkata, West Bengal, where Banerjee went to state police headquarters Bhabani Bhaban.
- When
- The complaint was filed on Tuesday, August 11; the threats were made between May 3 and August 9.
- Why
- The callers warned Banerjee he would meet the fate of blogger Avijit Roy, and the threats continued, prompting him to seek police help amid heightened security concerns in West Bengal.
Rebel Trinamool Congress camp
Mamata Banerjee camp
Party leadership
Rebel Trinamool Congress camp
The dissident camp claims to represent the 'real' TMC, has challenged Mamata Banerjee's leadership, and accuses the old leadership of losing its political direction amid successive electoral reverses.
Mamata Banerjee camp
The Mamata Banerjee camp put forward its own nominee for the Leader of the Opposition post, opposing Banerjee's claim to the role.
Key facts
- Complainant
- Ritabrata Banerjee, Leader of the Opposition, West Bengal Assembly
- Nature of threat
- Death threats via WhatsApp calls from Bangladesh-based numbers
- Threat period
- May 3 to August 9 (roughly three months)
- Complaint filed
- Tuesday, August 11, at Bhabani Bhaban, Kolkata
- Reference cited by callers
- Killing of Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy in Dhaka in 2015
- Related security case
- Arrest of suspected JeM operative Hamim Mondal; police have not linked the threats to it
- Rebel camp support claim
- Around 65 of the party's 80 MLAs
- Rival structure
- Rebels elected senior MLA Arup Roy as chairperson
Sources
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