Kolkata, June 6 (IANS) Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, on Saturday, issued a statement rubbishing claims that surfaced last week about him allegedly seeking security cover of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) for himself after the assault by an angry mob at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on the afternoon of May 30.

Information about Abhishek Banerjee allegedly seeking CAPF security cover surfaced last week, after the expelled Trinamool Congress legislator, Ritabrata Banerjee, who is now the leader of the official block of Trinamool Congress’ legislative party in the state Assembly and also the official Leader of the Opposition, referred to this issue while speaking to media persons last week.

“What kind of a mass leader is he? After the party’s landslide defeat on May 4, he kept himself home-bound for 26 days. Now, he is seeking central forces’ security cover for himself. He had earlier claimed that the public is there to protect him. So why is he now seeking security cover?” questioned Ritabrata at a press conference on June 2 afternoon, which was widely reported by the media.

Now on Saturday, Abhishek Banerjee issued a social media statement denying the information about him seeking the CAPF security cover for himself.

“A section of the media is reporting that I have sought Central security cover following the attack on me in Sonarpur on the 30th of last month. This claim is entirely baseless and far from the truth.

“I have not sought any security cover in the seven days since the attack. The incident occurred under the watch of both the Central and State governments and they must answer serious questions regarding the circumstances surrounding it,” said Banerjee, who is also the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in his social media statement.

According to him, what he found even more disgusting was that although over the last one month West Bengal has witnessed numerous incidents of rape and other horrific crimes affecting ordinary citizens, the state administration paid no attention to most of such incidents.

“The safety and security of the people should be the foremost priority of those entrusted with governance. I urge both the State and Central security agencies to focus on protecting the citizens of West Bengal rather than allowing misinformation and politically motivated narratives to be amplified through sections of the media. The people deserve safety, accountability and the truth,” his social media statement read.

–IANS

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