Kolkata: Egg attacks, now synonymous with Bengal politics, returned to the city but this time, a BJP functionary himself became the target and another BJP worker was arrested for the assault.As a clash broke out in Belgachhia around 12.30 pm on Sunday, BJP worker Atish Bandyopadhyay (52) was pelted with eggs during the attack, reportedly led by Arnab Das alias Kalu, a youth who recently switched his allegiance from Trinamool to the BJP. The incident took place on Manindra Road in Shahid Colony. Das was arrested on Monday.Tensions flared when Bandyopadhyay protested against loud music being played near a temple. His objection led to an altercation with the group playing the music, the members of which also belonged to BJP. Those youths reportedly turned on Bandyopadhyay and hurled eggs at him, one of them hitting him in his left eye.Bandyopadhyay lodged a complaint at the Chitpor Police Station, following which an FIR was registered under BNS sections 130 (assault) and 114 (hurt). “I was hit in the presence of police,” he claimed. In his FIR, Bandyopadhyay wrote that the assailant “threw an egg at his house”. “It hit my eye, due to which I was unable to open my eyes owing to a severe pain. I subsequently got examined at (R G Kar). I am submitting this application to lodge an FIR at Chitpore PS and request an investigation,” he wrote in his complaint. Bandyopadhyay claimed that he was forced to draw the attention of the police as accused Das had thrown raw eggs into their house courtyard even earlier.Bandyopadhyay’s phone remained unreachable.Chitpore PS officers downplayed the incident, describing it as an internal political rift. “As Bandyopadhyay had complained against the loud music being played at a temple, some locals got upset. But it was only Das who attacked Bandyopadhyay with an egg. We arrested Das on Monday,” said a senior officer.While the accused BJP faction denied that eggs were hurled at Bandyopadhyay or any physical assault on him, senior party functionaries distanced themselves from the incident. BJP’s Belgachhia MLA Ritesh Tiwari said he had no inkling about the incident. “I will ask around about what happened and respond accordingly,” he said.
