Mamata defends mayor's niece who assaulted cop

Defending the Kolkata mayor's niece, accused of manhandling a traffic constable, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday called her a "little girl" and rebuked police for taking action in the matter.

Mayor Sovon Chatterjee's niece Debapriya, 24, along with four of her friends, was stopped by a traffic constable after their vehicle jumped a signal and allegedly hit a pedestrian.

Enraged over the constable's "dare' to stop the mayor's niece, the youngsters argued with the cop, snatched his notebook and heckled him. After much heated argument, a case was registered against Debapriya, for preventing a public servant from doing his duty - a non-bailable offence.

"It was an incident involving some little girls. How can police snatch their driving licence? I am sympathetic to police. But just as a section of politicians are not honest, a section of policemen too are not honest," Banerjee said at the state assembly.

"I am not intervening in the matter. Police are investigating the matter. But I feel everybody needs counseling," she added.

Already facing flak for not arresting Debapriya, police have been strongly criticized after the constable who had stopped the car, on Monday went on a long leave, though officials claimed the leave was sanctioned before the incident.

While Debapriya has claimed innocence alleging she was "being framed", Chatterjee has exuded confidence that the "law will take its own course".

Charging the chief minister with interfering in the matter, leader of the oppositionSurjya Kanta Mishra said it was "Banerjee who needs counseling".

"The comments she made in the assembly, tantamount to interfering with the probe. Will police be able to make proper investigation after the chief minister makes such a comment," asked Mishra of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

The chief minister earlier had resorted to "small boy" theory to exonerate members of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad, her party's students wing, accused of assaulting principals and teachers of several colleges soon after her party came to power in 2011.