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.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bengaluru, Nov 21: Karnataka Lokayukta Police on Thursday conducted search operations across the state in connection with complaints regarding disproportionate asset cases registered against four government officers, and it was found that they had acquired disproportionate assets worth over Rs 26.66 crore.
Simultaneously, searches were conducted at the residences, offices and houses of the relatives of the accused government officers at more than 22 places.
The search pertains to cases registered at Lokayukta Police Stations of Bengaluru, Mandya, and Chikkaballapura, an official release said.
The officials are Krishnaveni M C, a Senior Geologist, Mines and Geology Department; Mahesh, Managing Director of Kaveri Neeravari Nigama's Surface Water Data Center; N K Thippeswamy, Director of Town and Country Planning; and Mohan K, Excise Superintendent at the office of the Joint Commissioner of Excise.
Lokayukta officials have documents, assets and valuables, including gold ornaments and cash.
According to Lokayukta, while Krishnaveni M C has acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of over Rs 11.93 crore, Mahesh has acquired over Rs 6.89 crore.
Mohan had acquired disproportionate assets worth over Rs 4.37 crore and it was Rs 3.46 crore in the case of Thippeswamy, they said.