Kolkata: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that she could have been killed after her car was attacked and stones pelted by “anti-social elements” while she was on way to meet the family of a party worker who died in police custody.
Mamata faced protests at Halisahar in North 24 Parganas district as a group of people allegedly surrounded the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief’s car, smeared mud on it, and allegedly threw shoes, water bottles and stones. ‘Chor bhagao’ slogans rent the air as police tried to push back the protesters.
Mamata later told reporters that she could have died if bricks and stones had hit her.
“Anti-socials from outside threw stones at my car in front of the police. If my car windows were not closed, it could have hit my head. I could have died. I have never faced such an attack. What is going on? The police did nothing to protect us. They give protection only to the BJP,” Mamata said.
#WATCH | Barrackpore: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says, “Large stones were hurled at my car by anti-social elements,right in front of the police. The attack on the vehicle was so severe that if the windows had been open, my head would have been split open.… pic.twitter.com/PIdFM1Oxcr
— ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2026
Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen, who were accompanying Mamata, also vented their anger against the administration.
“(Chief Minister) Suvendu Adhikari is running the show using the police,” Banerjee said.
State BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya condemned the incident, claiming that the BJP was not associated with the alleged attack.
“If anyone throws stones at the former chief minister’s vehicle, throws mud or throws a slipper, the BJP does not support it. No BJP worker is involved in this and we do not want such behaviour to be meted out to the state’s former Chief Minister. If this happens, it will tarnish the face of West Bengal itself in the future. We condemn this incident and if it has happened, the police under chief minister Suvendu Adhikari will take immediate action,” Bhattacharya told reporters.
Mamata had gone to meet the family of Birju Keot — husband of former TMC councillor Jenny Sharma — who had been arrested on extortion charges and sent to five days of police custody by a court on Friday. Jenny alleged that her husband was tortured and beaten to death in the lock-up.
Abhishek Banerjee slammed the police and alleged that Keot was picked up despite his name not being in the FIR.
“When the state can take a man into custody despite his name not appearing in the FIR – and he does not come out alive – the question is no longer merely about law and order. It is about the rule of law itself,” the TMC leader said.