In a frightening development the Kolkata police have revealed to a designated court how Hafizul Mollah the man who sneaked into Bengal Chief Minister Minister’s official residence in the dead of night and remained there for several hours before being caught by her security guards to whom he feigned lunacy had Bangladesh connections.
The police have found on him at least 11 SIM cards some of which procured in Bangladesh, sources said adding he regularly was in touch with people not only in Bangladesh but also Jharkhand and Bihar.
The police also submitted before the designated court before seeking extension of police custody that the person had carried an iron rod with him and had entered the Harish Chatterjee Street residence of Mamata after a full 7-8 days’ reconnaissance mission.
“He had even befriended local children with chocolates and soft drinks and procured information from them about the vicinity before slipping into the Chief Minister’s house,” sources said. Once inside the house
he took snaps of the interiors which were possibly whatsapped to some undisclosed numbers, officials informed adding he had even sneaked into Bangladesh last October by simply crossing the Ichamati River and stayed there for several days. .
“No one has any clues regarding what he did there and whom he met in that country… there is further need to interrogate him,” officials said. After hearing the police application the designated court extended the police custody of the arrested person till July 18.
Mollah is from Basirhat region of North 24 Parganas bordering Bangladesh. His father had earlier claimed that his son was mentally deranged and was on drugs. He had on an earlier occasion entered State secretariat Nabanna that houses the Chief Minister’s Office and was then caught and let off by the police.
Early this month he had entered the Chief Minister’s house at Kalighat in the dead of night breaching the eyes of CCTV network and the elaborate security system available to Banerjee who is a Z-Plus protectee. He managed to hide in the Chief Minister’s house for about seven hours before being apprehended by her personal guards.
Apart from other sections the police had added Section 120B --- criminal conspiracy --- of the Indian Penal Code The allegations apart the police had yet to establish the motive behind his action, sources said.
The security arrangements outside the Chief Minister’s house had been upgraded several notches with senior IPS officer Piyush Pandey replacing Vivek Sahay the DGP-level officer who was in charge of Mamata Banerjee’s security.