Senior advocate and former Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya has alleged receiving telephone death threats following an attack on his Kolkata residence last week, raising fresh concerns about political violence in West Bengal. Bhattacharya disclosed the threat in a social media post on Friday, 16 October, days after a masked individual hurled liquor bottles at his home in the Purbalok locality of the Jadavpur area in south Kolkata.

The Alleged Threat Call

According to Bhattacharya, he received a call at approximately 10.47 pm on Thursday from a person who identified himself as Sukanta Mondal. The caller allegedly threatened to kill Bhattacharya and his family members, and reportedly used derogatory language about his late mother. Bhattacharya described the caller as a 'Hindu fanatic' and stated that such behaviour was, in his view, characteristic of those subscribing to what he termed 'Hindu fanaticism'.

'I received the call at around 10.47 p.m. on Thursday. A Hindu fanatic identifying himself as Sukanta Mondal. He threatened to kill me and my family members. He also used abusive language about my dead mother. Such derogatory language and abusive behavior are inherent among Hindu fanatics. I am now waiting for the action to be taken in the matter by the Chief Minister who is also the state's police minister. If necessary, now, I will be exercising my right to self-defence,' Bhattacharya said.

Last Week's Attack on His Residence

The alleged threat follows an incident from last week in which a masked person arrived on a two-wheeler in the early hours and hurled liquor bottles at Bhattacharya's residence in the Purbalok locality, Jadavpur. At the time, Bhattacharya had similarly attributed the attack to a 'Hindu fanatic'. Police launched an investigation and subsequently arrested one individual, Bappa Guchait, who was identified as an active All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) activist.

Cross-Complaints and Political Backdrop

The matter has taken on a sharper political dimension as Hindutva groups have filed police complaints against Bhattacharya, alleging that his remarks amounted to derogatory comments about the Hindu religion. Bhattacharya, who also served as the former mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, has now called on West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari — who also holds the state police portfolio — to respond and take action. Notably, no official response from the Chief Minister's office had been reported as of Friday.

Significance and What Happens Next

This is the second alleged incident targeting Bhattacharya within a week, and it comes amid an already charged political atmosphere in West Bengal, where clashes between CPI(M), TMC, and Hindutva-aligned groups have periodically flared. The arrest of a TMC activist in connection with the bottle-hurling attack has added a contentious party-political element to the case. The cross-filing of complaints — one by Bhattacharya and another against him — means the matter may now proceed on parallel legal tracks. Whether the state police, under the Chief Minister's direct charge, acts on Bhattacharya's complaint is likely to be closely watched by opposition parties as a test of institutional accountability.