Trinamool billboard row: Derek O’Brien appears at Kolkata police station to face interrogation

Business To Business, Kolkata, 02 September 2026:   Trinamool Congress’ Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien arrived at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station in Central Kolkata on Wednesday to face interrogation in connection with the FIRs registered after the row over the removal of an illegal billboard at the party office of Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee.
 
His scheduled time to appear at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station was by noon. But he appeared at the police station by 10.30 a.m., driving his own car.
 
Sumit Roy, the personal assistant of Abhishek, is also scheduled to appear for interrogation at the said police station on Wednesday.
 
On Tuesday afternoon, Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, appeared for interrogation at the said police station and faced a marathon grilling for over six hours.
 
Originally, O’Brien was supposed to appear at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station to face interrogation in the matter on Monday. However, he did not turn up on the day. Instead, his counsel wrote a letter to Kolkata Police seeking seven days to appear.
 
The city police declined his plea and instead served him a fresh notice asking him to appear by noon on Wednesday. This time O’Brien not only honoured the fresh notice but also arrived at the police station before time.
 
Tension broke out on Camac Street on August 27 after Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) staff, accompanied by police personnel, reached Abhishek Banerjee’s Camac Street office to remove the illegal billboard.
 
The KMC staff and police personnel faced stiff resistance from party activists led by Abhishek Banerjee, O’Brien and other Trinamool Congress leaders. Scuffles broke out between the cops and the party activists.
 
In the three FIRs filed at Shakespeare Sarani Police Station, the city police have accused the Trinamool Congress activists of not only assaulting the on-duty cops but also attempting to outrage the modesty of a female police officer.
 
In two of the three FIRs filed, Banerjee, O’Brien and other Trinamool Congress leaders, such as Humayun Kabir and Baishwanar Chatterjee, have been named. The police have arrested 14 people in this connection so far.