UK college row echoes in Kolkata: Bengal BJP head, London doctor detained after roadside meet

Kolkata: In a dramatic flashpoint echoing the UK's 'Kellogg College Lecture' controversy, West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar and London-based doctor Rajatshubhra Bandyopadhyay were detained by the police on Friday, moments after a brief roadside interaction outside the latter's Kolkata residence, sparking a political uproar.

Bandyopadhyay, a British passport holder with roots in South Kolkata, was later released.

The BJP alleged that the detention was linked to the doctor's now-famous confrontation with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a lecture at Kellogg College, Oxford University, in March.

At that time, Bandyopadhyay had asked Banerjee to name a single major industry that had come to Bengal during her tenure, following which the event descended into chaos and university security had to intervene.

The detention triggered a political uproar with the BJP accusing the state government of using the police to "muzzle dissent" and "criminalise symbolic gestures."

The episode unfolded after Majumdar who is also a Union minister of state, defying police restrictions, headed to Harish Mukherjee Road to meet Bandyopadhyay at his residence.

However, as his convoy neared the location, police intercepted it and claimed that the doctor was "not at home." Shortly after, a video posted by the BJP showed Bandyopadhyay at his residence, contradicting the police version and sparking protests from party workers gathered nearby.

In the video, Bandyopadhyay was heard saying he had been waiting for over an hour to meet the minister.

Tempers flared as BJP workers clashed with police personnel, accusing them of "lying to obstruct a simple meeting." Amid the standoff, Bandyopadhyay descended from his apartment and briefly interacted with Majumdar on the road.

The conversation, however, did not last long. Both Majumdar and the doctor were swiftly bundled into separate police vehicles and taken to the city police headquarters at Lalbazar, even as party workers tried to resist and allegedly were manhandled.

"For what reason have we been detained? I have no clue. Nowhere in the world does something like this happen," Majumdar told reporters while being escorted into a police van.

Bandyopadhyay, who has been living in the UK for decades, spoke to reporters after he was released.

"Is this the way to treat a British citizen? What crime have I committed? Is it a crime to meet a Union minister in Bengal? The police need to answer on what grounds I was picked up like a criminal," he said.

BJP leader Sourav Sikdar alleged that this is nothing short of "state-sponsored goondaism".

"They are scared of a doctor who asked questions and a minister who came to meet him. The state is weaponizing the police," he claimed.

Local BJP supporters echoed similar sentiments, with one worker asking, "Even a doctor's house visit is now a crime in Bengal? What democracy is this?" Responding to the incident, the ruling Trinamool Congress defended the police action, accusing the BJP of "stage-managing provocations." "The BJP is creating deliberate provocations in sensitive areas. The doctor in question has a track record of inciting controversies. The police acted in accordance with law to ensure peace," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.