Abhishek Banerjee’s Office Lodges Police Complaint Against Kolkata Mayor's OSD for Misusing Name to Extort Money

A police complaint was lodged by Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s office against an official working with Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, accusing him of misusing the TMC MP’s name to extort money from contractors.

According to officials at Banerjee’s office, the complaint was filed at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station on Thursday evening against Kalicharan Banerjee, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Hakim’s office, by Ayan Ghosh Dostidar who works in Banerjee’s office.

The letter, which was submitted on September 26, alleges that the OSD has been telling people that he is close to Banerjee and “can make things work”. News18 has accessed a copy of that complaint which also alleges that the officer took money from people by pretending that he is close to the TMC leader.

“The modus operandi of the accused person is evident. He has been meeting people and claiming to be a close aid of the Hon’ble MP/representative of the Hon’ble MP with the sole intention of duping them and making them part with their hard-earned monies so that he can make ill-gotten gains. The said person has created an impression that he is a highly influential person, and then he has been falsely projecting that he is a close confidant of Shri Abhishek Banerjee.

“By doing so, he has induced many people to repose their faith and belief in him, thereby winning their trust on the basis of false promises and assurances. In exchange, he has been illegally collecting huge sums of money from gullible individuals with a promise that he will ensure favours for them through Shri Abhishek Banerjee’s offices. However, he has not fulfilled any of his promises as he has no connection with Shri Abhishek Banerjee whatsoever and all such victims have been left with no relief against such wrongdoings perpetrated by the aforementioned person.”

While the OSD is yet to react, Hakim said: “They should have told me. I could have conducted an inquiry. I do not know anything about this.”

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said the complainants may have some evidence but the party would not like to comment on the issue, adding that the issue had definitely created some ripples in the party. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari termed the official “corrupt”. No FIR has been filed in the case yet.