Woman Tried To Attack Mamata Banerjee With Knife Near Her House, Claims Party

A woman tried to attack Mamata Banerjee with a knife as the former West Bengal chief minister stepped out of her house in Kolkata on Tuesday evening, the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress has alleged.

The police, however, made no mention of an attack or a sharp object and said the woman has been detained. 

In her police complaint, party general secretary Dola Sen said the woman, whom she identified as Tannishtha Saha, is a civic volunteer and claimed to be Banerjee's niece. When the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress chief left her house in Kalighat at 6 pm, Saha let loose a volley of obscenities and tried to attack her. 

Civic volunteers are contractual personnel engaged by the West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police to assist with traffic management, crowd control, and public safety duties.

The Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress claimed Saha was a drug addict. It questioned how someone could approach the residence of a Z-plus protectee and hinted at a conspiracy. 

"She was hurling abusive languages (sic) and in an intoxicated manner tried to violently approach Smt. Mamata Banerjee and even lied down (sic) on the road to hurt the Hon'ble 8th Chief Minister of West Bengal," Sen said in her complaint. 

Posting a copy of the complaint, party spokesperson Saket Gokhale wrote on X, "A drug addict reached Mamata Banerjee's residence today and tried to attack her with a knife. This is the condition in Bengal where even a Z+ protectee & 3-time CM is not safe. Was this a planned conspiracy by BJP because Didi is determined to finish them off in Delhi?"

Hours later, the police identified the woman as 38-year-old Anusua Saha, termed the incident an "altercation", and said she has been detained. 

"An incident occurred at the residence of the former chief minister when she was exiting the residence. One Anusua Saha confronted her, leading to a heated altercation. The woman was subsequently detained by the police personnel on duty. Meanwhile, a complaint was lodged by TMC members. Necessary action is being taken as per law," the police said in a statement. 

Earlier Attacks

Members of the Mamata Banerjee faction of the TMC have been attacked several times since the party lost power in West Bengal in May, after three successive terms, and also saw splits both at the state and national levels.

In August, Banerjee claimed a large stone was thrown at her car in Kolkata's Shyambazar area, causing chest pain that lasted days. 

In May, days after the election results were declared, National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee had stones and eggs thrown at him in South 24 Parganas, a district that was seen as his stronghold.  

The vehicle of Baruipur Purba MLA Bibhas Sardar was also attacked on Saturday. Sardar said a mob surrounded the vehicle, threatened to kill him, and threw a brick at the windshield, adding that he was lucky to have escaped.