CID records BJP legislator’s statement in Abhishek Banerjee hate speech case

Kolkata, July 9 (IANS) The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police on Thursday recorded the statement of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from the Gosaba Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district, Bikarna Naskar, in connection with the case registered against Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, who has been accused of making hate speeches ahead of the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections.

Naskar arrived at the CID headquarters at Bhabani Bhavan in south Kolkata on Thursday afternoon and got his statement recorded in the matter.

In the alleged hate speech delivered at an election campaign rally before the polls, Abhishek, who is also the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, reportedly made violence-inciting remarks and allegedly threatened Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

It has also been alleged that following the purported violence-inciting statements by the Diamond Harbour MP, Naskar was attacked by Trinamool Congress activists ahead of the Assembly polls. A police complaint was subsequently lodged at the local police station in connection with the incident.

Thereafter, the CID was entrusted with investigating the matter relating to the alleged violence-inciting statements. On Thursday, the agency recorded Naskar’s statement as a witness in the case.

The recording of Naskar’s statement assumes significance as Abhishek has already ignored two successive orders of the Bidhannagar Court in North 24 Parganas district directing him to appear in person and provide his voice samples to the CID in the presence of a judicial magistrate and forensic experts.

The latest scheduled date for his appearance before the Bidhannagar Court to provide his voice samples was Wednesday. However, he did not turn up.

Thereafter, the public prosecutor in the case, Bivas Chattopadhyay, submitted a written application before the Bidhannagar Court seeking strong legal action against the Diamond Harbour MP for repeatedly ignoring the court’s directions.

In the written submission, the public prosecutor argued that since this was the second time the Trinamool Congress General Secretary had skipped his appearance before the court to provide voice samples, it was evident that he was attempting to disrupt and delay the investigation.

–IANS

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