SILIGURI: BJP's Dabgram-Phulbari MLA Sikha Chatterjee on Friday kept police on their toes throughout the day with cops restraining her, then her workers taking her away forcibly from police detention and later the men in uniform giving her a chase.
The Election Commission has sought a report on the incident.
Police said Chatterjee had stepped within 200 metres of a polling booth with her supporters when she was restrained.Trinamool Congress said Chatterjee had been testing police day-long to arrest her and was in "visible despair" when they did not.
"Chatterjee was stopped by the police for moving close to a booth. This led to arguments and she staged a sit-in demonstration. A magistrate was sent to the spot for probing the incident," Bengal CEO Aariz Aftab said, adding that the report is awaited.
The election to the 14 wards under Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) falling under Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha segments were held on Friday. According to local sources, Chatterjee was travelling with the party workers since morning. The police allegedly stopped her in ward 33 and told her that she cannot enter the booth unless she is a voter of that booth. The cops restricted her entry and cited law and order to prevent her entry following which a confrontation took place. Chatterjee claimed that the cops threatened to arrest her. She further claimed that since it was mayor Goutam Deb's ward, she was barred entry.
"Police threatened me that I cannot be outside the booth. As soon as I entered ward 33, a large force restricted my entry and threatened to arrest me and I was even chased by cops. Since the ward is Deb's ward, we were denied entry. The male as well as female police personnel dragged me and stopped me in the ward. I was literally molested. They are uniformed goons. Whatever they do, I will walk around my assembly constituency", said Chatterjee.
On the other hand, Deb claimed that she was influencing the voters in the area.
"Chatterjee had done the same thing last time. Suddenly, people started entering the booth from nowhere. The candidate had gone to Malbazar but she's standing for an hour with her party workers in Dabgram and speaking to the reporters and crowding the area, trying to spoil the normal rhythm of voting," said Deb, who is a two-time MLA of the constituency and a former tourism minister.
"I too can go but I will not break the law. She should be restrained at one point that is prohibited according to the law. I informed the police administration and the election authority in this regard. Candidates can enter the booth with some people but cannot crowd the area. She has been sitting there for an hour trying to influence voters in booth number 100. They are flouting the election rules", he added.