Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday called the developments around Nirav Modi a “got-up game”, refused to give the Narendra Modi government any credit for the diamantaire’s arrest in London, mocked the BJP’s “Main Bhi Chowkidar” campaign and called it a pre-poll “strike”.

The Bengal chief minister, on her way out of Nabanna on Wednesday evening, questioned the sequence of events leading up to Nirav’s arrest.

“It was entirely a got-up game. Who is behind the curtains? The real chhupa rustam has escaped…. First, you didn’t know where Nirav Modi was hiding. Then a journalist gives the information on his whereabouts. It was all composed like a film…. This government — past its expiry date, willing to do anything as the elections approach — has no credibility,” Mamata, the Trinamul Congress chief, said.

“The credit goes to the London journalist (of The Daily Telegraph in the UK) and not the BJP,” Mamata said.

“We Bengalis have a soft corner for Rabindrasangeet, I am reminded of the song ‘Tumi robe nirobe, hridaye mamo (Thou shalt dwell in silence in my heart)’,” she said, punning on the Bengali word nirob (silent) to refer to the fugitive diamantaire.

Calling the Nirav episode a “strike”, Mamata said she had predicted on March 11 that the BJP would attempt a pre-poll gimmick soon.

“As elections are approaching, we saw the Nirav Modi strike. We might see many more such strikes during the elections…. But nobody should do anything that pushes the country backwards,” she said.

“The other man is also there. They are no longer Indian citizens,” Mamata added, in an apparent reference to Vijay Mallya, the embattled liquor baron accused of default and now in the UK.

The chief minister said that she had respect for real chowkidars, not “fake ones”.

“Asli chowkidar ka thoda hi itna fashion hota hai (Real watchmen are not as fashionable),” she said.