CCTV Captures TMC MLA Soham Chakraborty in Altercation at New Town Cafe

Employees of the New Town cafe where actor-turned-Trinamool Congress MLA Soham Chakraborty is believed to have been captured on video abusing the owner and workers were questioned by police on Sunday.

CCTV footage of Chakraborty, the East Midnapore MLA from Chandipur, surfaced on Saturday. It showed the legislator hitting and pushing café owner Anirul Alam to the ground while grasping him by his collar. Then, as several more guys around the two, he is seen pulling Alam outside.

A top Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate officer stated, "We have spoken with the cafe employees who were there on Friday night to get an idea of the sequence of events," but he did not want to be identified.

Additionally, the police have footage from the CCTV cameras that are set up in the cafe.

It has also been alleged that the MLA threatened to close down the owner's firm. "The footage that surfaced was taken on Friday night at approximately 8:20 p.m.," a senior commissionerate officer stated.

The officer reports that three complaints have been made.

Chakraborty responded to a complaint that the cafe's manager, Dipankar, had made on Saturday by filing a countercomplaint. The proprietor of the bistro filed the third complaint.

According to Chakraborty, just a piece of the CCTV tape is being presented, and the segment that showed Alam and other people yelling at the MLA's guards and shooting unit members has been removed.

The video that is being aired only provides one side of the story and is biased. Before they began beating my security staff, the cafe's owner, his staff, and a few other people mistreated them, according to Chakraborty.

A senior commissionerate official stated that the case was being looked into from all possible directions.

While expressing regret for his behavior on Saturday, Chakraborty added that "the cafe owner started hurling abuses at me and Abhishek Banerjee (National General Secretary of the Trinamool Congress)" was what made him lose his composure.

The event happened at the rooftop cafe when the actor was filming a Bengali movie. According to the officer, who cited restaurant staff members the police had spoken to, the café is located in a two-story structure with other cafes and fast-food restaurants on the first level.

According to the officer, issues arose with parking in front of the café.

The tweet from Abhishek

Diamond Harbour MP and national general secretary of the Trinamool Party, Abhishek Banerjee, commented on X on Sunday and said, "Humility and grace are necessary for victory." I kindly want all @AITCofficial leaders and members to acknowledge and work toward upholding the faith that the people of West Bengal have placed in us. Public officials should behave more responsibly since they are elected by the people and have a mandate from them."