CPI(M) leader and senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya residence attacked

The residence of senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya was attacked on the early hours of Thursday (October 8, 2026). Mr Bhattacharya has blamed “Hindutva forces” for this attack. Once a fierce critic, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee has also reached out to Mr Bhattacharya after the attack. 

An FIR has been registered at the Purba Jadavpur Police Station based on a complaint filed by the Left leader. An undentified masked man came on his bike at around 5.30am and hurled beer bottles at Mr Bhattacharya’s house and fled the spot. The attack broke windows in the senior politician’s house. 

“Source information reveals that the accused person may be a resident of Bikash Guha Colony or its nearby area under Panchasayar P.S. We are trying for identification and apprehension of the accused. Plain clothes surveillance has been deployed,” a statement from the Kolkata Police said. 

Ms Banerjee condemned the attack and expressed her solidarity for the senior advocate. “It is true that in the past 15 years Bikash da and us have often been on different sides of the ideological and legal divide. However, the line of decency was never crossed,” Ms Banerjee wrote on her social media. She also added that she will meet him in person after she comes from Delhi where she is headed to attend the protests. 

“The attacker was using strong religious slurs. This was a planned attack. His face and the bike’s number plate were covered, just like extremists. This is a Hindutva attack. I speak against Hindutva and any religious extremism, that is why they are scared, they wanted to scare me,” the former Rajya Sabha MP said. 

Mr Bhattacharya further said that he will apply for a firearm license after this attack. He also added that he has previously faced multiple verbal and virtual threats, but the attack on his house was a new form of harassment. 

“What happened can’t be supported but why is he blaming Hindus for this?” West Bengal Minister Tapas Ray said. Meanwhile, his colleague and Minister Dilip Ghosh said that the matter should be investigated by the police.