FIR against Union minister for 'throwing slipper at Sikh man'

Kolkata: An FIR has been lodged against Union minister Sukanta Majumdar at a police station in Kolkata alleging he threw a slipper at a Sikh man which hit his turban, the ruling Trinamool Congress claimed on Sunday.

BJP dismissed the allegation and said it was only a paper cutting used in a protest.

The FIR, lodged at Kalighat police station in south Kolkata on June 13, claimed that on June 12, Majumdar, who is also the state BJP chief, had thrown a slipper in a public place at the crossing of Hazra Road and Harish Chatterjee Street, near Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence.

The FIR, a copy of which was posted by the TMC on its X handle, stated that the complainant, a Sikh man, alleged that it was a deliberate and intentional act on the part of Majumdar, causing "insult to religious belief and hurt religious sentiment and also caused assault to that person".

PTI has not independently verified the FIR copy posted on TMC's X handle post.

The said FIR was lodged under Section 302 (protects individuals from actions intended to harm their religious sentiments) and 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) of BNS.

The ruling TMC in West Bengal claimed that Sikh community has "responded with rightful anger" against Majumdar.

"They have demanded an immediate and unconditional apology, and warned of widespread protests if their voice is ignored," the TMC said in its X handle post.

Dismissing the allegation, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya said that it was only a paper cutting used in a protest.

"The Sikh people are being insulted by planting a concocted story," he said.

"The grooming that Majumdar and people like us have had, we have grown up learning about the sacrifices of Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh," he said, denoting the respect of the BJP leaders for the Sikh community.

Majumdar and other leaders were stopped by police en route to Maheshtala on June 12, following which they held a protest in Kolkata's Kalighat area near the residence of the chief minister, who is famously known to always wear slippers.

In a post on X, Majumdar had said, "Just yesterday, the same @WBPolice were forced to wave white cloths in surrender before radical jihadists in Rabindranagar -- spineless, helpless, and humiliated. And today, suddenly, they appear to be warriors -- zealously following Chief Minister @MamataOfficial's orders with blind obedience, immersed in servitude!" "Today, as we moved toward Maheshtala to stand beside the attacked Hindus, the administration blocked our path citing Section 163. And when we later went to Kalighat, to the Chief Minister's residence, to question her silence and appeasement politics, her loyal @KolkataPolice pounced on us like personal slaves -- blindly defending their master.

"In broad daylight, our leaders and @BJP4Bengal Karyakartas were shamelessly arrested -- a naked display of administrative tyranny," Majumdar added.