Trinamool’s Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien booked for scuffle over removal of a party signboard

Trinamool Congress leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien have been booked for allegedly assaulting police personnel and obstructing them from discharging their duties when they went to remove a signboard of the party from a building on Kolkata’s Camac Street, The Hindu reported on Friday.

Three first information reports have been registered in connection with the incident under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to unlawful assembly, obstructing and assaulting public servants, causing hurt, criminal intimidation and use of force against a woman, among others.

At least 13 persons have been arrested in the case so far, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Kunal Aggarwal told the newspaper.

On Thursday, an altercation broke out between Banerjee and the Kolkata Police when security personnel and officials of the municipal corporation arrived at the party office to remove the signboard.

The board, with the name “All India Trinamool Congress”, was installed on the top of the building. Most of the units in the building are part of Banerjee’s office.

In one of the FIRs, the police have alleged that the signboard was hanging dangerously and stated that the municipal corporation had been directed to remove it for safety, The Hindu reported.

On Thursday afternoon, a team of police personnel, accompanied by municipal corporation officials, reached the building to remove the signboard. Banerjee...

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