New Delhi:
The Delhi Police today registered a case against unknown persons for manhandling West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra outside the Planning Commission office in Delhi.
While no arrest has been made yet in the incident, the police registered the case under Sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The unknown persons also faced charges under Section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and under Section 147(rioting) of the IPC.
A senior police officer told PTI that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was also surrounded, was supposed to enter the Planning Commission building in the high security zone of the Capital through its Gate No-4, but she used the in-gate where the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had erected a barricade to control the access.
"She came in a private car and without any escort. Then she was heckled by the protesters. Immediately, police threw a cordon around her and escorted her inside," he said.
The case also includes the charge of unlawful assembly under Section 149 of the IPC.
Ms Banerjee and Mr Mitra had gone to Planning Commission office to discuss the state's annual plans, where they were surrounded by a group of angry Students Federation of India (SFI) activists protesting the death of their colleague, 22-year-old Sudipto Gupta, in Kolkata last week.
The 65-year-old Finance Minister was jostled and pushed around while trying to enter the Yojana Bhawan building and a woman protester hit him twice on his chest; his kurta was torn in the melee. He was later put under medical observation at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Ms Banerjee was administered oxygen after she fell ill.