Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday (August 9, 2026) visited the residence of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker who was found dead in police custody at Halisahar in North 24 Parganas.
Ms. Banerjee faced protests from locals who raised slogans against her and attacked the vehicle in which she was travelling. The Trinamool Congress chairperson stated that bricks were thrown at her vehicle by Bharatiya Janata Party supporters and blamed the police for the attack. Ms. Banerjee was accompanied by Trinamool Congress MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Dola Sen.
Birju Keot, husband of former Trinamool Congress councillor Jenny Sharma Keot, was arrested by Halisahar police on Friday on allegations including extortion and corruption. He was presented before a Barrackpore sub-divisional court, which remanded him to five days of police custody. On Saturday, Birju Keot was taken to a state-run hospital from police lock-up, where he was pronounced dead.
“I condemn this. Even after a custodial death, they are threatening the family of the deceased,” the former Chief Minister said, adding that instead of providing security to her, the police allowed “lumpens from outside” to attack her vehicle. The Trinamool Congress chairperson stated that her party would move court over the custodial death.
Could have been killed, says Mamata
The former Chief Minister claimed that she had informed the police about the visit to the deceased Trinamool Congress worker’s residence.
“This is nothing but a conspiracy. I had informed the police that I would be coming, but despite that, no security measures had been taken. My car has been attacked with stones, shoes and mud,” Ms. Banerjee told reporters after meeting the family members of the deceased.
Accusing BJP workers of using goons to attack her, the Trinamool Congress chairperson said that her head could have been smashed. “I could have died here,” she said. Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee who was accompanying her said that the attack was a plan to kill her.
This was the first occasion after the party’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls that the former Chief Minister reached out to a party worker. Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was attacked on May 30 when he visited Sonarpur to meet the family members of a deceased Trinamool Congress worker.
The alleged attack on Ms. Banerjee’s convoy evoked sharp reactions from her loyalists who held sit-in protests. Leaders from the Opposition parties like former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kerjiwal and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav condemned the attack on the Trinamool Congress chairperson.
“A man dies in police custody. His grieving family awaits answers. Then, when our Hon’ble Chairperson @MamataOfficial goes to meet them, her convoy is brutally attacked. If even a former Chief Minister’s security cannot be guaranteed, what does that say about law and order in Bengal? SHAME ON BJP,” the Trinamool Congress posted on X.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that the police gave adequate security to the former Chief Minister. “There were no BJP flags and there were no BJP workers. You have indulged in so much theft and so you will have to listen to slogans of ‘thief, thief’,” Mr. Adhikari said, referring to the incident as a reflection of the anger of people towards the Trinamool Congress.
After the Trinamool’s defeat in the recently concluded Assembly polls, there have been several incidents of arrest of party workers. In many cases, people have attacked local leaders of the party. Trinamool Congress leadership has alleged that party workers have been at the receiving end of violence after the BJP came to power.
Published – August 09, 2026 04:03 pm IST
