Tripura police have lodged FIRs against Trinamul Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and three of his senior party colleagues for allegedly preventing public servants from discharging their duty.

The suo motu FIRs were lodged against Banerjee, Bengal minister Bratya Basu, MP Dola Sen and Trinamul spokesperson Kunal Ghosh by Khowai district police on Tuesday. The alleged incident that attracted the FIRs had happened at Khowai police station on Sunday.

The quartet were booked under Section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the IPC. The section is bailable and the offence carries a jail term of three months or fine of Rs 500 or both, if convicted

Besides the quartet, two Tripura Trinamul leaders, Subal Bhowmik and Prakash Das, were also booked for the same offence.

Banerjee and other Trinamul leaders had reached Khowai police station on Sunday to secure the release of 14 party activists who had been arrested on charges of violating Covid-19 restrictions the previous night. The arrests were made after a clash between activists of Trinamul and the BJP in Dhalai district on Saturday.

Subal Bhowmik, who had joined Trinamul on July 30 after leaving the Congress, dismissed the charges in the FIRs. “There was no obstruction. The FIR was lodged after 48 hours. This shows that police are being misused,” he told the media.

The police also arrested five Trinamul workers for violating Covid protocol. They were remanded in judicial custody for six days by a court Dhalai on Tuesday. Their case will come up for hearing again on August 16.