Extortion bid, assault on South Kolkata cafe owner

KOLKATA: The 38-year-old owner of a theme cafe in Jodhpur Park alleged that organizers of a local festival tried to extort money from her for the event, and after she refused, they used foul language and snatched her cellphone when she started recording the incident.
Swaralipi Chatterjee also claimed she was stalked when she left Lake police station after lodging an FIR around 11.45pm on Wednesday, was chased by bikers who tried to stop her.The festival has been cancelled.
The victim and her friends then sought help from Jadavpur police station and the chairperson of the state women’s commission to ensure her safety. She was then escorted home by police.
Chatterjee took to Facebook on Thursday to recount her ordeal. Hours later, the administration detained the prime accused. Senior leaders of the ruling party assured the victim that no one would be spared, irrespective of their political leanings.
Chatterjee told TOI the accused had introduced himself and others as confidants of an influential leader in the area. The festival organizers claimed they were not aware of the incident, but were sorry if it had taken place.
“A function was planned by some leaders at Jodhpur Park and they provided my manager with a fixed rate chart. They came back around 8.45pm on Wednesday and asked me to hand over the cheque. I told them we have suffered losses during the pandemic and could not even pay the staffers properly.
They left, but returned with around 14-15 men. Three of them entered the shop. A friend and a poet were with me at that time, along with a few customers. The accused became abusive and threatened to stop my business. One of them was violent.
When I tried to record the hooliganism, they twisted my arm and snatched my phone. The hooliganism went on for 20-25 minutes,” Chatterjee said.
She called up the chairperson of West Bengal Commission for Women, Leena Ganguly, and sought help. “I received the call from the victim around 10.30pm. I contacted the Lake police OC and asked him to lodge a complaint. I asked the victim to go to the police station,” Ganguly said.
“When we left the police station, I saw some bikers waiting. We proceeded towards Jodhpur Park and they began following us. Three bikers tried to stop us. My friend managed to drive us to Jadavpur PS,” Chatterjee said.
DC (SED) Sudip Sarkar said an extortion case has been filed. “We have collected necessary CCTV footage and a probe has been initiated,” said Sarkar.