Kolkata shockwave! BJP alleges gangrape suspect photographed with TMC figure Abhishek Banerjee, igniting fierce blame game
by Utsav RoyThe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opened a new front against West Bengal’s governing Trinamool Congress (TMC), accusing senior TMC figures of links to those charged in a recent gang‑rape case.
Police say that on 26 June, a 24‑year‑old first‑year law student at South Calcutta Law College was assaulted by three men inside the college’s Kasba campus. The attack, coming barely ten months after the widely publicised rape‑and‑murder at RG Kar Medical College, has reignited political hostilities in the state.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari and the party’s IT‑cell chief Amit Malviya shared photographs that appear to show primary suspect Manojit Mishra alongside senior TMC leaders, among them Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and state health minister Chandrima Bhattacharya. “Once more, Mamata Banerjee’s administration stands shoulder‑to‑shoulder with the accused,” Bhandari alleged, adding that TMC leaders were also “seen shielding” suspects in the RG Kar case.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Malviya called the images “OUTRAGEOUS,” contending that Bengal under Mamata Banerjee had become “a nightmare for women.” He further accused the state government of orchestrating a cover‑up: “Why this silence? Whom are they protecting?”
TMC minister Shashi Panja countered at a Friday press briefing, urging political rivals not to “exploit a tragedy” for partisan gain. Expressing personal anguish over the crime, Panja noted that police had apprehended all three suspects, Mishra (31), a former student, and current students Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukherjee (20), within twelve hours of the complaint. Mobile phones were seized, and the survivor’s testimony recorded the same day, she said. “The speed of Kolkata Police action is something BJP‑ruled states can’t even imagine,” Panja added, maintaining that the TMC’s student wing “does not encourage violence.”
All three accused were produced before Alipore court and remanded to police custody until 1 July. According to investigators, medical examinations revealed injuries consistent with sexual assault, including evidence of force, bite marks, and nail scratches.
The episode has revived painful memories of last year’s RG Kar Medical College case, in which a woman was discovered dead in a seminar hall with signs of rape and torture. Civic volunteer Sanjay Roy was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for that crime.