Man who intruded into Mamata Banerjee's house carried iron rod: Police
Kolkata, Jul 5: 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.
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Prasidh, Kuldeep limit South Africa to 270 after De Kock's hundred
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
