Delhi police serves notice to Mamata Banerjee in 2013 heckling case

Delhi Police has served a notice to former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, asking her to appear as a witness in connection with a 2013 case linked to an alleged assault on then state Finance Minister Amit Mitra during an SFI protest outside Banga Bhavan in New Delhi.

Kolkata: The Delhi Police on Monday served a notice for interrogation to former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in connection with a 2013 criminal case registered at the Parliament Street Police Station in the national capital.

Investigators seek to question the former Chief Minister as a witness in the case, which pertains to a violent protest demonstration staged in front of “Banga Bhavan” in New Delhi, where government officials were allegedly assaulted.

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A team from the Delhi Police, accompanied by personnel from the local Kalighat Police Station, arrived at Banerjee’s official residence at 30B Harish Chatterjee Street in South Kolkata on Monday to deliver the notice. The document, delivered in a white envelope, was received by Subhasish Chakraborty on her behalf.

Sources aware of the development confirmed that the notice asks Banerjee to travel to New Delhi at her convenience to meet investigating officers as a witness under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The case dates back to April 2013, when activists belonging to the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) – the student wing of the CPI(M)-staged a protest outside New Delhi’s Banga Bhavan following the death of SFI activist Sudipta Gupta in Kolkata earlier that year.

During the demonstration, the then West Bengal Finance Minister, Amit Mitra, was reportedly heckled and physically assaulted by protesters. The agitation was led by the then SFI General Secretary Ritabrata Banerjee, who currently serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Following the incident, a formal complaint was registered at the Parliament Street Police Station on April 9, 2013. Thirteen years after the event, the Delhi Police issued the summons to Mamata Banerjee, noting that she was present in the national capital alongside Mitra when the assault occurred.