By IANS,
Kolkata : Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday alleged there was a conspiracy to kill her, saying a car with a ‘press’ sticker on it tried to hit her vehicle, but police said it was only a case of some TV journalists seeking to talk to her.
The Trinamool Congress chief alleged that the car with three people, including two with a camera, sneaked into her convoy and tried to get very close to her vehicle in Kolkata’s satellite township of Salt Lake in the early hours of Wednesday.
North 24 Parganas district Superintendent of Police Rahul Srivastava, however, said the car with a ‘press’ sticker was following her vehicle as they wanted an interview.
The car belonged to the Bengali news channel Chobbis Ghanta, he said. The journalists later clarified to police after Trinamool Congress Trade Union chief Purnendu Bose lodged a complaint at the Bidhannagar (East) police station.
Banerjee, who was accompanied by union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy and state party president Subrata Bakshi, said: “When the car was finally stopped, it was found that the driver was not carrying any driving licence. The two people carrying the camera also could not produce any press identity card.”
The minister was returning to her South Kolkata home at Kalighat after a get-together at the residence of painter Shuvaprasanna.
The Kolkata Press Club condemned the incident, and appealed to all political parties that journalists should be allowed to carry out their duties unhindered.
In a statement, Kolkata Press Club president Prema Nanda Ghosh said journalists are becoming the victims of attack time and again in the state.