TMC MP Sougata Roy raises concern over smuggling of firearms into Kolkata

Kolkata: Senior Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy on Monday slammed the Kolkata Police and wondered how sophisticated firearms are reaching the criminals in the city without their knowledge, evoking a sharp retort from the opposition BJP.

His statement came two days after an armed man tried to 'shoot at' TMC councillor Sushanta Ghosh while he was sitting outside his house in Kasba area in the southern part of Kolkata.

Roy told an outreach programme in his Dumdum lok sabha constituncy area: "Our (Kolkata) Mayor has made some observations and I also wonder how 9 mm pistols can be smuggled in the city clandestinely despite supposedly strict police surveillance. This is not done." Mayor Firhad Hakim had visited the residence of Ghosh and said that the "criminal culture of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh or Ahmedabad" would not be allowed in Bengal.

In response to the development, BJP state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said "What he had been telling for long, is now being confirmed by heavyweight Trinamool leaders themselves."

"Who is the police minister? The chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself. If TMC leaders cast aspersion on police, they are in effect proving their lack of confidence in the way the law and order issue is being handled," Majumdar said.

A purported video of the attack on the councillor shows two men came to the spot on a bike. One of them walks up to Ghosh with a gun and tries to fire at him from close range, but the gun malfunctions. While the man on the bike manages to flee, the other man is caught and later arrested.

Three persons, including the prime accused, have so far been arrested in the case.