West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Akash Banerjee, and three others were arrested for allegedly manhandling traffic policemen after violating traffic rules here on Wednesday even as questions were raised over the delay in action against them.
While people at the spot alleged that Akash and his associates had been initially let off by the police after he flaunted his relation to the Chief Minister, a senior official of the force clarified later in the evening that the arrests were made on Ms. Banerjee's instructions.
The police discounted the contention that the arrests were made only after the incident had created an uproar. While acknowledging that the incident occurred at 11 a.m. and arrests were made at 12.30 p.m, the State's Minister for Urban Development, Firhad Hakim rubbished reports that mounting pressure from the local television reports had resulted in the arrests.
“The Chief Minister directed us to take action against the person who had introduced himself as her relative,” said Sivaji Ghosh, Special Commissioner of the city police. As for the delay in arresting the accused, he said: “This is an allegation; that is why we are conducting an inquiry into it”.
According to the traffic policeman, the car had violated traffic rules by overtaking other vehicles at a crossing on the wrong lane. It was holding up the traffic on the lane and so a constable had gone over to ask the driver to move the car to the side of the road and initiate proceedings against them.
A youth, who introduced himself as the Chief Minister's nephew, stepped down from the car, hurling abuses at the policeman and then manhandled him. When the officer-in-charge tried to intervene, he also faced the same behaviour.
Eyewitnesses claim that a crowd gathered and took the youth to the local thana, but there was an outrage as reports came in that he had been allowed to leave soon after.
Protests and demonstrations immediately broke out in the area. As the incident gained publicity and the registration number of the car flashed on television screens, authorities of the Indian Botanical Gardens, across the Hooghly River in Howrah, claimed that a car with the same number had also come to the gardens on two occasions, had flouted norms and forced an entry with the passenger claiming to be the Chief Minister's nephew.
Mr. Hakim said that by instructing the police to arrest her nephew and his associates, the Chief Minister had “once again shown that whoever it may be, even whether it be a close relative, none is above the law”. “Incidents like this happen frequently but there are only a few instances of people being arrested in connection with them”, he said.
