Security arrangements outside the residence of outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and his nephew Abhishek Banerjee were scaled down on Wednesday morning, two days after the 15-year-old Trinamool Congress (TMC) government was ousted in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
“Police arrangements outside three buildings – 188 A Harish Chatterjee, 121 Kalighat Road and 9 Camac Road – have been reduced as of 6:30 am on Wednesday. Some security arrangements like scissor barricades were replaced with manual guardrails on Tuesday,” said a police officer familiar with the developments.
While 188A Harish Chatterjee was Mamata Banerjee’s residence, 121 Kalighat Road was the party’s headquarters. Abhishek Banerjee’s office is located at 9 Cammack Street.
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This development comes two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the two-phase Assembly elections in April this year. While the BJP got 207 seats, the TMC got 80 of the 294 seats in the assembly. The Independent Electoral Commission ordered re-poll for one seat.
“Only Z+ security arrangement will remain. Additional police personnel, who were deployed outside Z+ security category, have been withdrawn,” said an IPS officer aware of the developments.
The internal memo, ordering a reduction in the security cover, was issued by the Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police on Tuesday.
Some high-tech security arrangements like scissor barricades, installed at Harish Chatterjee, about 200 meters from Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat district, were removed on Tuesday, the police said. These automated barriers, usually set up in high-security areas, have been replaced with manual guard rails.
Meanwhile, state Solicitor General Kishore Datta also sent his resignation to West Bengal Governor RN Ravi. Datta was the state’s solicitor general as of December 2023. He was also the state’s solicitor general from 2017 to 2021.
“I sent my resignation to the governor on Tuesday,” Datta told HT.
