Kolkata: Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday faced a hostile reception in Halisahar as protesters surrounded her vehicle, shouted “chor” slogans and hurled mud and slippers when she went to meet a TMC worker’s family, who allegedly died in custody.

Her successor Suvendu Adhikari and other senior BJP leaders claimed that the incident reflected “strong public anger” against the TMC supremo.

The confrontation turned Banerjee’s visit to Halisahar in North 24 Parganas district into a charged political spectacle, with police forming a cordon around her vehicle as protesters blocked its passage, while rival camps traded accusations of political provocation, public anger and administrative failure.

Adhikari, denying any involvement of the ruling BJP in the incident, said the protest reflected “strong public anger” against Banerjee and asserted that since she had “committed so much theft”, she would have to hear people call her a “thief”.

After reaching the area, Banerjee told reporters: “My car has been attacked with stones, shoes and mud. This is nothing but a conspiracy. I had informed the police that I would be coming, but despite that, no security measures were taken.” “Forget security. The police are protecting lumpens. Bengal has fallen into the hands of lumpens. We will file a case,” she said.

Banerjee alleged that large bricks were also hurled at her vehicle.

“My head could have been smashed. We could have died here. The police are protecting the BJP,” she said, accusing Adhikari, who holds the Home portfolio, of using the police and alleged mafia elements to run the state.

She also claimed that the deceased worker’s family was being threatened by BJP supporters.

The BJP, however, sought to distance itself from the violence while arguing that the protest reflected local anger against Banerjee.

BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said the party did not support any attack on the former chief minister’s vehicle and denied the involvement of BJP workers.

“Such an incident, if it has happened, will blacken the face of West Bengal in the future. We condemn the incident and, if such an incident has taken place, the police under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari will immediately take action against those responsible,” he said.

Adhikari, however, mounted a sharp political counterattack, questioning Banerjee’s decision to visit Halisahar and asking why she had not gone to the family of the RG Kar rape-murder victim, referred to by protesters as ‘Abhaya’, on the second anniversary of her death.

“You could have gone to Abhaya’s house today. You could have gone to Ratna Debnath with a towel around your neck and apologised, saying you had made a mistake and asking for forgiveness. I believe she would have forgiven you,” he said.

Ratna Debnath, Abhaya’s mother, is now a BJP MLA. She had earlier said she contested the elections to fight for justice and accused Banerjee of failing to save her daughter.

Adhikari also alleged that Banerjee had gone to Halisahar without being invited by the deceased worker’s family and claimed that the kin was satisfied with the police and administration.

“Do not do this when the family is shutting the door. You are saying you will enter by force. Do it when people seek your help or intervention. This is the time for development. Do not go anywhere and do anything that disrupts normal life,” he said.

Reacting to the alleged pelting of mud at Banerjee’s vehicle, Adhikari said, “You (Banerjee) killed Abhaya, went to destroy evidence and tried to buy her family with Rs 10 lakh. If people threw mud at your car, what else would they throw? Flowers?” BJP MLA from Bijpur seat, under which Halisahar falls, Sudipta Das also accused Banerjee of seeking political mileage from the death of the TMC worker.

“This is Mamata Banerjee’s old politics. Just as a vulture looks for a carcass, she too looks for a death in West Bengal and tries to find a way to remain in the media. She has become politically irrelevant,” Das said.

Das said he was ready to provide legal assistance to the family over the alleged custodial death.

The deceased, Birju Keot, husband of former Kanchrapara municipal councillor Jeni Sharma Keot, was arrested in connection with extortion and other charges. He was produced before a court on Friday and remanded in police custody for five days. His death was reported on Saturday.

His wife has alleged that Keot was beaten inside the lock-up and died as a result of police assault. There was no immediate response from the police to the allegation.

TMC spokesperson Krishanu Mitra condemned the alleged pelting of stones and mud at Banerjee’s vehicle as “extremely ugly and condemnable” and linked the incident to the custodial death.

Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen accompanied Mamata to Halisahar.

Kalyan alleged that Adhikari was “running the state through the police” and using alleged mafia elements for political purposes, while Sen accused the administration of failing to protect the former chief minister and her entourage.

The episode also revived memories of recent protests targeting the TMC leadership.

Banerjee faced “chor-chor” slogans outside the Calcutta High Court in June, while her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee encountered protests during a visit to Sonarpur the same month, with demonstrators allegedly pelting his convoy with eggs and raising similar slogans.

The Halisahar confrontation, therefore, was more than a roadside protest. It brought Bengal’s increasingly personalised political contest onto the street, with the death of a local TMC worker providing the immediate trigger and the rival claims of “public anger” and “political conspiracy” setting the stage for another political flashpoint in the state.