Three people were detained this morning for raising incendiary “shoot the traitors” slogan during home minister Amit Shah’s rally in Kolkata on Sunday.

The men shouted the slogan while they were passing the Maidan Market in Esplanade en route to the rally venue Shahid Minar ground.

There has been a controversy over raising of such slogans in BJP rallies during Delhi polls and demonstrations in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The state BJP leadership, however, denied involvement of any party worker in the incident and termed it as the “handiwork of the TMC (Trinamool Congress)”.

When asked for a reaction on the incident, state BJP vice-president Subhas Sarkar said no party workers were involved in this sloganeering.

The slogan shouting BJP supporters came close to Congress and Left Front members who chanted “Go Back Amit Shah” on the other flank of the Jawaharlal Nehru Road, but a showdown was averted as a large number of police personnel posted nearby intervened and took control of the situation.

While the Congress demanded that the BJP supporters should be immediately arrested, the Left parties threatened to move court if the police doesn’t take any action. The ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) top brass refused to comment saying the party would come up with a statement. No statement, however, was issued by the TMC till late on Sunday.