Five arrested for attacking Abhishek, Mamata says police pressured hospitals not to admit him
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee leaves Apollo Hospital after the attack during his visit to Sonarpur, Kolkata. | Photo credit: ANI
West Bengal Police on Sunday (May 31, 2026) arrested five persons in connection with the attack on Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee. According to the police, the arrest was made after Sonarpur police station registered a suo motu FIR as the Trinamool leader had not registered any formal complaint. Several others were detained in connection with the attack. These arrests and detentions came after a review of footage of the attack on the MP.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee alleged that hospitals were under police pressure not to admit her nephew. After being attacked by a mob in Sonarpur, the Trinamool Congress general secretary was taken to two private hospitals in Kolkata and both institutions refused to admit him on the grounds that the injuries were not of a serious nature.
“The most disturbing aspect of today’s development is the allegation that doctors and hospital authorities were pressured to treat an injured patient. Doctors recommended tests, scans and observations based on medical necessity. Decisions on admission, discharge and treatment should be made solely by medical professionals, not by any political authority,” the former Prime Minister told the media on Saturday, May 30, 2026 evening.
Ms. Banerjee added that “it is not normal for a patient who has sustained an injury and undergone a medical examination to face uncertainty about treatment and hospitalization.”
In some videos shared on social media, Ms. Banerjee is heard speaking angrily to the CEO of a private hospital. The Trinamool Congress president said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has offered that Abhishek Banerjee can be treated at a hospital in Hyderabad.
The Trinamool Congress president said that when she was in power, she never allowed political opponents to be physically targeted in this way.
“There were differences, there were political battles, but some limits were respected. In the end, the people will answer. Today’s events are not the last chapter. Governments come and go, but democratic values must remain intact,” Banerjee said.
Since 4 May 2026, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in West Bengal, there have been instances of local and ward Congress officials of the Trinamool Congress being attacked by the public. The attack on the Trinamool general secretary took place when he was visiting the residence of Trinamool Congress worker Sanju Pramanik, killed allegedly in post-poll violence. Both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee hold the BJP responsible for the attack.
BJP leaders described the attack as a reflection of public anger against Trinamool Congress leaders
“What happened to Abhishek Banerjee should not have happened. No one has the right to take the law into their own hands,” BJP leader and West Bengal minister Dilip Ghosh told reporters. However, he said the people of West Bengal had endured “harassment” for the past 15 years under the TMC government, adding that “the anger within the public has to be expressed somewhere”.
Published – 31 May 2026 12:06 IST