The Kolkata Police on Friday (September 11, 2026) arrested Congress leader Atanu Das for holding a protest and burning photographs of Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, alias Baba Bageshwar, outside the Bhawanipore police station on September 8.
He backed Mr. “ I strongly protest and condemn this incident of arrest. We want to ask, why was that so-called Baba Bageshwar, who made derogatory remarks about Bengalis, who insulted Bengali culture and heritage, not arrested? Mr. Along with Atanu Das, who has been arrested, the police have also booked Ashutosh Chatterjee, general secretary of Congress, and Pradip Prasad, president, south Kolkata district Congress committee.
Shastri and said in the State Assembly that the godman’s remarks on going vegetarian during pujas were only a prescriptive. Sarakar said in the statement. The Kolkata Police said that during the protests held outside Bhawanipore police station on September 8, posters bearing the image of Dhirendra Shastri “were burnt, trampled upon, and slapped with shoes by the accused persons and members of the gathering”. The acts by the protesters “amounted to an insult to the religious sentiments of a particular community and posed a threat to public order with the potential to incite social disharmony”, according to the police.
The arrest in the early hours of Friday came after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had on Thursday directed the police to arrest those protesting against the preacher.
