Shocking Letter Offers "1 Crore" For "Capture" Of Mamata Banerjee

A letter with a shocking description of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and offering a reward of Rs 1 crore for the capture "dead or alive" of the Trinamool Congress chief was delivered on Sunday by inland post to the house of party leader Aparupa Poddar in Kolkata.

The letter, a copy of which was forwarded by Ms Poddar to the Serampore Police Station, was signed by a Rajiv Killa. The letter also contained a return address and three phone numbers.

The full text of the letter describes Ms Banerjee as a "demon" and a "jihadi" and offers the Rs 1 crore reward to anybody who has knowledge or information of the Chief Minister and can capture her, dead or alive.

This is not the first time the beleaguered Chief Minister has been referred to in such distasteful terms.

Earlier this week BJP lawmaker Sakshi Maharaj said Ms Banerjee belonged to the "family of demon Hiranyakashyap" because she "conspires against those who say 'Jai Shri Ram'."

The legend of Hiranyakashyap refers to an ancient Hindu ruler who is believed to have put his son Prahlad behind bars and tortured him for believing in God.

There was a rakshasa (demon) called Hiranyakashyap. His son said 'Jai Shri Ram' and the father shut his son in jail. The same thing is being repeated in Bengal and it looks like Mamata belongs to the family of demon Hiranyakashyap as she conspires against those who say 'Jai Shri Ram'," the BJP leader was quoted as saying in a report by ANI.

There seems little respite for Ms Banerjee in the days following a Lok Sabha election that saw the BJP make up significant ground on her Trinamool Congress; the saffron party won 18 of 42 seats, up from the two it won in 2014 polls, compared to the Trinamool sliding from 34 to 22.