Police Says Man Who Intruded Mamata Banerjee’s House Carried Iron Rod

Police said the man, identified as Hafizul Mollah, scaled the walls of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's house early on Sunday and remained seated at a space opposite a hall.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 5 July 2022 3:43 pm

The man who sneaked into the Kalighat residence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee carried an iron rod, police said on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the man, identified as Hafizul Mollah, scaled the walls of Banerjee's house early on Sunday and remained seated at a space opposite a hall where the TMC supremo holds press conferences till he was discovered by security guards the next morning, a Kolkata Police officer said.

"He sneaked into the CM's residence, hiding an iron rod under his shirt. We are questioning him to know the purpose of carrying it with him," the officer said.

The rod had fallen on the ground when he tried to escape after being spotted by security personnel at Banerjee's residence, he said.

Though Mollah's family claimed he is mentally unstable, police still suspect his motive of entering the CM's house.

The entire episode will be reconstructed and a Special Investigating Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate the matter, the officer said.

Investigating officers have also spoken to Mollah's father and wife to find out his medical history. Plans are afoot to examine his mental state, he said.

Mollah had entered Banerjee's residence around 1.20 AM on Sunday and remained inside the premises till 8 AM the next morning when he was spotted by security personnel, who handed him over to Kalighat Police Station.

During interrogation, he claimed that he mistook Banerjee's residence as Kolkata Police Headquarters at Lalbazar but failed to give any plausible explanation as to why he scaled the wall of the premises and for what reason he wanted to visit the police headquarters at that hour.

The incident triggered a security scare with questions being raised about how he went past the Z-plus security cover that the chief minister gets, and entered her residence in a highly secure neighbourhood to spend a night without anyone noticing.

Soon after the incident, police took immediate steps to enhance security in and around the CM's residence.

(With PTI inputs)