Former Calcutta mayor Sovan Chatterjee, who had joined the BJP on Wednesday, claimed in a mail to Calcutta city police commissioner Anuj Sharma on Sunday that his security had been “suddenly withdrawn”.
Chatterjee, who said he used to get Y plus security, requested the police commissioner to deploy adequate security to him. However, sources in the city police said security for Chatterjee had been “scaled down”. They, however, refused to elaborate.
Chatterjee alleged in his letter that the police had “suddenly withdrawn” his security personnel without intimation on Saturday and blamed it on the Mamata Banerjee government’s “vindictiveness”.
“It is pertinent to mention here that I apprehend such withdrawal of security personnel maybe because of the vindictiveness of the State Government against me as I’ve joined Bhartiya Janta Party on 14th of August 2019,” the letter reads.
Sources in the BJP said the party had requested the Union home ministry to provide central security to Chatterjee and his close friend Baishakhi Banerjee.
“All I can say is that Sovan Chatterjee will prove to be an asset to the party and he would be provided with central security cover,” said Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Sunday.
Citing that he as the city mayor and the cabinet minister of three crucial departments, including environment, had taken “some hard decisions that irked the interest of many” causing a threat to his life, which initiated a Z category security cover by the state government. He further stated that later on, “due to some unknown reasons,” the security level was reduced to Y plus.
“I urge you to immediately arrange for sufficient deployment of security personnel so that no harm is caused to me and my associates. Please be informed that I’m reaching Calcutta today at 7pm and as an MLA and councillor, I request you to immediately arrange for my personal security,” Chatterjee wrote in his letter to the police commissioner.
Chatterjee arrived in Calcutta on Sunday evening after his joining at Delhi on August 14.
