KOLKATA POLICE DISMISSES KNIFE-ATTACK CHARGE OUTSIDE MAMATA’S HOME, SAYS WOMAN CAME TO MEET FORMER CHIEF MINISTER
October 14, 2026
Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Nand on Wednesday rejected allegations that a woman attempted to attack former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with a knife outside her Kalighat residence, stating that the complaint lodged by Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen had “no substance or truth”. The police chief maintained that the incident on Tuesday evening had been misconstrued by supporters who interpreted the woman’s approach as an aggressive act.
The woman, identified as a civic volunteer who had allegedly remained absent from duty for a year, was arrested after the incident. According to Nand, police personnel present at the scene apprehended her, following which officers were able to establish what had happened. He said the woman had gone to meet Banerjee rather than attack her.
“This is not an attack. She went there to meet her, but it appeared otherwise to the supporters,” the commissioner said, explaining the police assessment of the episode.
Nand also stated that the woman knew Banerjee and that her father was acquainted with the former chief minister. These details, the commissioner suggested, supported the police’s view that the encounter had been misunderstood rather than constituting an attempted assault.
The incident had prompted a formal complaint from Dola Sen, a Trinamool Congress MP, who alleged that the woman approached Banerjee aggressively and attempted to attack her with a knife as the former chief minister was leaving her Kalighat residence on Tuesday evening. Banerjee was reportedly on her way to inaugurate the Durga Puja celebrations at Milan Sangha, a venue near her residence.
Sen’s complaint also raised concerns about the security arrangements surrounding Banerjee, who is entitled to Z-plus category protection. The allegation prompted questions about how an individual could approach a high-profile political leader during a public movement outside her residence.
However, the police commissioner’s statement directly challenged the account presented in the complaint. By insisting that the woman had intended to meet Banerjee and that the circumstances had been misinterpreted by supporters, Nand sought to distinguish the reported encounter from an attempted knife attack.
The arrest of the woman remains a key development in the case, although the commissioner’s remarks indicate that the police do not accept the allegation of an attempted assault as described in the complaint. The circumstances surrounding the encounter, including the woman’s purpose in approaching Banerjee and the events that led to her apprehension, have become central to the competing accounts.
The episode has drawn attention to the sensitivity surrounding the security of senior political figures in West Bengal, particularly during the Durga Puja season, when public appearances and visits to community celebrations are frequent. It has also highlighted the importance of establishing the facts of an incident before characterising it as a deliberate attack.
With the police commissioner publicly rejecting the knife-attack allegation and confirming the woman’s arrest, the official account differs sharply from the complaint lodged by Sen. The competing versions have placed the circumstances of Tuesday’s encounter under scrutiny, while the police maintain that the woman had gone to meet Banerjee rather than harm her.
