TMC leader Anubrata Mondal.
Credit: PTI Photo
TMC's controversial strongman Anubrata Mondal has kicked up another row after his purported phone call with a police officer went viral on social media in which he can be heard abusing and threatening the cop.
A case was registered against the TMC leader, who is also a former Birbhum president of the party, after the audio clip went viral.
In the clip, Mondal is allegedly heard threatening the officer-in-charge (IC) of a police station in Birbhum district. He is heard accusing the police officer of siding with his intra-party rival, Kajal Sheikh, and threatening to "teach him a lesson."
As the controversy worsened, it prompted the Trinamool Congress on Friday to issue a statement and condemn Mondal's remarks. The party has sought an unconditional apology from Mondal within the next four hours.
"The party unequivocally disassociates and does not endorse the comments made by Anubrata Mondal against a police officer. We strongly condemn his use of derogatory & unacceptable abusive language," TMC wrote in a post on X.
"The party hereby instructs him to tender an unconditional apology within the next four hours, failing which show cause proceedings will be initiated," it added.
The Bhartiya Janata Party has launched a scathing attack on TMC over the viral phone call.
Sharing the purported audio clip on his X account, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari wrote, “Just listening to this viral phone conversation makes it clear how dangerous anti-social goons are being carefully protected under the loving cover of the state’s powerful and unchallengeable Chief Minister."
“The so-called ‘tiger with its skin peeled from Birbhum’, who reportedly suffers from occasional lack of oxygen to the brain — listen to the language he uses while speaking to a police officer!" he added, demanding an immediate investigation into the matter.
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya also slammed the West Bengal government.
“A TMC leader, under the very nose of a woman Chief Minister, threatens a police officer with the rape of his mother and wife. This is the real face of TMC — emboldened, lawless, and shameless. If this is how they treat a police officer, imagine the plight of ordinary citizens. This unfailingly proves that women are not safe in West Bengal — not under TMC’s watch," he wrote on X.
Earlier in the day, BJP's West Bengal president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar shared the audio clip on his X handle and demanded Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and DGP Rajiv Kumar conduct a speedy inquiry into it.
In a recent organisational reshuffle, TMC dropped Mondal from the post of Birbhum district president, a position he had held unchallenged for years.
(With PTI inputs)