Police shielding TMC minister Udayan Guha in Cooch Behar convoy attack case, claims BJP’s Suvendu

Kolkata, Sep 2 (PTI) The Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Tuesday accused the state police of trying to shield North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha from getting indicted in the case of the attack on the BJP leader’s convoy last month in Cooch Behar district.

In support of his claim, Adhikari cited an order passed by the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday directing the Inspector General of Police to file a report on affidavit by September 10.

The report, the court directed, should state whether the FIR filed by Adhikari, accusing Guha as the prime suspect in the case, and the suo-motu FIR lodged by the police were the same in terms of their nature of complaints or whether there were indications of a “larger conspiracy” in the complaint of the former.

The BJP leader filed a writ petition before the high court alleging that the police ignored his complaint and are, instead, carrying out investigations on the basis of its suo-motu FIR which does not name the minister as an accused.

“I will not let criminals get away so easily. Based on my writ petition, a detailed hearing was held at the bench of Justice Aniruddha Roy who asked the North Bengal IG why the police did not lodge an FIR based on my complaint, and is claiming that its suo-motu complaint and the one filed by me are the same.

“They will now have to explain why they left out Udayan Guha’s name from the case. The fight continues…” Adhikari said in a post on X.

Responding to Adhikari’s claims of deleting Guha’s name from the police’s suo-motu FIR, the Trinamool Congress leader said no matter what the complaint against him is, the police will conduct an investigation based on the evidence they gather.

“Adhikari is at liberty to name me in his complaint. But the police will act only on their findings in the case. Merely stating my name is not enough; the complainant has to prove my involvement. The police must have found that I was nowhere near the area at the time of the incident, and that’s why they did not name me in their FIR,” Guha said.

On August 5, Adhikari’s convoy came under attack, allegedly by TMC supporters during a protest in the Khagrabari area of Cooch Behar, sparking widespread tension in the region.

The bulletproof glasses of the vehicle in which Adhikari and former Union minister Nisith Pramanik were travelling were smashed during the attack.

A police escort vehicle was also vandalised, with its window panes shattered, prompting the BJP to call it a “murderous attempt” carried out in full public view, allegedly with police inaction.

The Trinamool Congress, however, rubbished the allegations and called it a “well-scripted drama” by the BJP to hog the headlines ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

In its Monday order, the high court observed that in the event of two sets of FIRs lodged on the same incident, “when a new discovery is made which is different from the previous FIR, even though it is on the same set of facts, the second FIR would be maintainable”.

“The second FIR is also permissible when investigation and/or other avenues reveal the earlier FIR or set of facts to be a part of a larger conspiracy,” the order further stated.

In the aftermath of the August 5 attack, Pramanik had blamed Guha, TMC MLA from Dinhata, for allegedly “masterminding” the attack.

“Guha was present at a nearby religious institution and gave instructions to the mob. This was a clear attempt on our lives,” he had claimed.

In his complaint, Adhikari had named Guha as the primary accused. PTI SMY NN