West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BJP IT cell of calling up people by posing as ruling party workers and spreading misinformation, Hinddustan Times reported.

“Some professors at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University were called up by people who identified themselves as Trinamool Congress (TMC) members and wanted to know who the professors would vote for in the coming elections. The callers gave a lot of misinformation and made insulting remarks before hanging up,” Banerjee told the media at the state secretariat.

“When the professors checked the numbers it was found that these are not linked to the TMC. This is the dirty work of the BJP IT cell. I am asking the police to start a probe immediately. I urge people not to receive calls from suspicious numbers and lodge police complaints if they are contacted. Strong action will be taken. The BJP’s IT cell is proficient in spreading fake news. Amit Shah had once said his party can make anything viral through thousands of WhatsApp groups,” said Banerjee.

Bengal BJP vice-president Ritesh Tiwari countered Banerjee’s allegation by calling her a “habitual liar”.

“Banerjee is a habitual liar and people of Bengal know that by now. She is making up these stories to secure the sympathy of the teaching community. Why doesn’t she make public the records of those alleged calls and audio recording of the conversations that she claims have taken place. I challenge her. Let her prove the involvement of the BJP IT cell if she can,” Tiwari said.

The chief minister also accused the Centre of failing to control the prices of petrol and cooking gas. “The prices go down before elections and go up again. I urge the Centre to take steps,” she said.

She made the remarks after virtually inaugurating a large number of projects, ranging from a subsidized cooked food chain for common people to a training facility for Indian Civil Service aspirants. The latter has been named after freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose who had resigned from the civil service.