File photo of Kolkata Mayor's niece Debapriya Chatterjee.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee today defended the niece of Kolkata's mayor, who faces a non-bailable case for allegedly abusing a traffic constable on duty.
Ms Banerjee was answering a question on law and order when she said, "It was an incident involving some little girls. How can the police snatch their driving licence? I am sympathetic to the police. But just as a section of politicians are not honest, a section of policemen too are not honest. We are having to deal with them."
The chief minister said she is "not intervening" and has suggested, "They all need counseling."
The Opposition's Surya Kanta Mishra, CPM, has retorted, "the chief minister too needs counseling."
At about 10.30 pm on Friday, Debapriya Chatterjee, 24, the niece of Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, was travelling in a car with two women and two men.
At Kolkata's Rashbehari crossing, the vehicle allegedly almost hit a pedestrian who began shouting and drew the attention of the police. An argument followed, during which Ms Chatterjee allegedly tried to snatch the policeman's notebook in which he was writing down the car number, she is also believed to have said she was the mayor's niece and she could ensure the policeman lost his job.
The police asked the two men in the car to accompany them to a police station. The three women were allowed to go and they drove off, but the car hit a sidewalk about 200 metres away and came to a halt. A crowd surrounded the vehicle and began heckling the occupants.
With the situation turning hostile, the police took the three women in the car to the police station, where Ms Chatterjee filed a complaint alleging that she was harassed by the crowd and the police did nothing to help.
The police have filed a case against Ms Chatterjee under Section 353, a non-bailable offence, for preventing a public servant from doing his duty. But she was not arrested, as a woman cannot be arrested between sunset and sunrise.
The police now say they will chargesheet her and let the courts issue an arrest warrant in due course.