'Whisked away like common criminals': Mamata Banerjee after TMC leaders are 'manhandled, dragged'

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee issued a strongly-worded statement after her party MPs and leaders were detained by the Delhi Police on Tuesday night. They were released around midnight after three hours. TMC has said that the leaders were 'manhandled' and 'dragged'.

'The Delhi Police, acting as the BJP's strong-arm, shamelessly manhandled our representatives who were forcibly removed and whisked away in police vans like common criminals, all because they dared to speak truth to power. Their arrogance knows no bounds and their pride and egotism have blinded them. They have now crossed all limits to repress the voice of Bengal!' Mamata Banerjee tweeted.

The West Bengal chief minister called it a 'dark and sinister' day for democracy.

'Today is a dark, sinister day for democracy, a day when @BJP4India
revealed their disdain for the people of Bengal, their disregard for the rights of the poor and a complete abandonment of democratic values,' she wrote.

Banerjee accused the Centre of withholding funds meant for Bengal.

'First, they callously withheld crucial funds meant for the poor of Bengal and when our delegation arrived in Delhi, determined to peacefully protest and draw attention to the plight of our people, they were met with brutality – first at Rajghat and then at Krishi Bhavan.'

The TMC leaders were detained while they were protesting over the release of central funds to Bengal at the Union Rural Development Ministry office.