Trespassing at Bengal CM's residence pre-panned affair: Police inform court

He also used to befriend local children by offering them cold drinks and chocolate, evidence of which has been gathered from the CCTV footage.

Kolkata: Trespassing at the residence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was a pre-planned affair and the trespasser, Hafizul Mollah, carried out multiple surveys of the security arrangements in and around the CM's house in south Kolkata's Kalighat area before finally entering there. Members of the investigating team told a lower court on Monday that from the CCTV footage in and around the CM's residence as well from the confessions made by Mollah, it has been learned that he planned the trespassing at least a month before actually making his move.

He used to roam around in the lanes and by-lanes leading to the CM's residence. He also used to befriend local children by offering them cold drinks and chocolate, evidence of which has been gathered from the CCTV footage. The cops also informed the court that mobile has been seized from Mollah, in which pictures of the Chief Minister's residence from various angles have been forwarded via WhatsApp to multiple numbers.

The police said that on the night he trespassed into Banerjee's residence, he interacted with some people a number of times using the same mobile phone, CCTV footages of which are available to the sleuths. The police have seized 11 SIM cards from the possession of Mollah, one of which is registered in Bangladesh. Police sources said that in October last year, Mollah had illegally entered Bangladesh and spent a few days there. However, the police are still silent over the motive behind Mollah entering the Chief Minister's residence.

"Surely, there is some conspiracy behind the entire process, which we are trying to find out. At the same time, Mollah was not alone in this conspiracy. We will also interrogate the family members of Mollah and the people whom he interacted with on July 2, the night when he trespassed into the residence of the Chief Minister. We have booked a case under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, which is a criminal conspiracy," a source in the state police said.

The security arrangements in and outside the Chief Minister's residence have already been beefed up following the trespassing incident. Vivek Sahay, the earlier director of securities, has been replaced with Peeyush Pandey, an officer with long experience in the Special Protection Group (SPG), which handles the security arrangements of the Prime Minister. (IANS)