Kolkata: A man was arrested for allegedly harassing Lagnajita Chakraborty, a popular Bengali singer, for not singing a “secular” song at a concert in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district on Saturday, police said.
“We have arrested the lone accused in the case Mehboob Mallik. He was one of the organisers and one of the owners of the school where the event took place. Investigation is going on. We have also initiated a departmental enquiry against the officer of the local police station,” Mitun Kumar Dey, acting superintendent of police of East Midnapore district told the media.
The incident took place on Saturday when Chakraborty was performing on the stage during an annual day function of a private school in Bhagabanpur.
“I started performing around 7 pm. By 7.45 pm I had already sung seven songs. The last song ‘Jago Ma’ was from a Bengali movie which was recently released. Suddenly I saw a man storming into the stage. He wanted to beat me up. When he was stopped by others he started shouting ‘Onek Jago Maa hoyeche. Ebar ektu secular gaa (Enough of Jago Maa, now sing a secular song). I told the audience what happened, and stopped the show. I went to the Bhagabanpur police station and lodged a complaint,” Chakraborty told the media.
The accused’s brother, however, alleged that Chakraborty had demanded extra money and stopped the show midway.
“The program was running late. She got angry with this and demanded extra money. When she was singing a song, the organisers requested her to sing a secular song. She suddenly got infuriated and stopped the live show,” Masud Mallik, brother of the accused.
The incident triggered a political row with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the accused was a local TMC leader.
“Mallik is a TMC leader. When Chakraborty went to lodge a complaint with the police, the officer in charge of Bhagabanpur police station tried to persuade her not to file a complaint. Meanwhile, Mallik and his aides gheraoed the police station,” Shanku Deb Panda, BJP leader, told the media.
“It is BJP’s old game plan to relate every incident to the TMC. The incident took place in a private school and the accused is a co-owner of the school. The police have already initiated action,” Arup Chakraborty, TMC leader, told the media.
