A woman allegedly approached and tried to attack former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee outside her Kalighat residence on Tuesday evening, prompting a police complaint and questions from Trinamool Congress leaders about how a person carrying a knife reached a Z-plus security protectee.
The incident took place as Banerjee was leaving for the inauguration of a Durga Puja pandal in Kalighat, according to a report by The Telegraph. The woman, identified by the Trinamool Congress as Tannishtha Saha, was allegedly in an intoxicated condition. The party also claimed that she is a civic volunteer, though the report did not cite an independent police confirmation of that claim.
Kunal Ghosh, the Beleghata MLA and a supporter of Banerjee, said the woman fell in front of the former chief minister, began abusing her and tried to strike her foot with a knife. Ghosh described the incident as appearing to be pre-planned, but the report did not indicate that police had confirmed that assessment.
Dola Sen, a Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP, later lodged a complaint at Kalighat police station. In the complaint, Sen said the woman had claimed to be Banerjee’s niece and had attempted to approach the former chief minister while behaving violently. Sen also said photographs had been submitted to the police.
The complaint questioned how the woman was able to reach the gates of the residence despite Banerjee’s Z-plus security cover. It described the alleged breach as a matter requiring investigation and raised the possibility of a wider conspiracy, although that suggestion was made in the complaint and had not been independently established in the report.
The episode puts attention on the operational challenges around high-security residences located within dense urban neighbourhoods. Such locations combine protected movement, nearby public roads, political activity and routine civic access, making the management of entry points and pedestrian approaches a policing and municipal coordination issue. The report, however, did not provide details of the security deployment, the precise point of interception or the action taken against the woman.
Banerjee had returned from Delhi the previous night after meetings with INDIA bloc members and participation in protests related to the Special Intensive Revision process. She had called for a rally from Rajabazar to Park Circus against the process, but did not attend the march, according to the report.
The Kalighat police complaint is the immediate formal step disclosed in the report. Further details about the woman’s status, the alleged knife, the security response and any charges would depend on the police investigation.
