Kolkata: In two separate incidents, two groups of people on Saturday attacked as many police stations in the city and allegedly assaulted personnel on duty, leaving several injured.
In the first incident, a group of people allegedly owing allegiance to the ruling Trinamoool Congress attacked Alipore police station to protest against eviction of squatters from near the Presidency Correctional Home for Women.
The attackers threw brickbats at the police station before ransacking it and beat up the personnel on duty with sticks snatched from them.
Taken aback, some policemen hid themselves under a table and behind a stack of files, as shown in a tv footage aired by some local channels.
The situation was brought under control by additional forces which were soon deployed following the attack.
No arrest was made, the police said.
Alipore police station sources said the attackers were protesting against eviction of squatters from an area near the Presidency Correctional Home for Women, close to the Alipore police station.
The sources said the squatters had been removed in a drive earlier, but some of them returned later, forcing the local administration to evict them.
In another attack, a sergeant of Garfa police station Sourav Bhattacharya was severely beaten up and injured by a group of hawkers belonging to the Hawkers Sangram Committee who were protesting against eviction from an area `in the E M Bypass near Avishikta-2 Housing Estate.
City police sources said that the incident took place when the local police were conducting a "drive" to evict the hawkers to facilitate widening of the E M Bypass.
An injured Bhattacharya was later admitted to M R Bangur Hospital in the city, the sources said.
Eleven persons, including seven women, were detained for interrogation, the sources said.
On November 10, a Kolkata Police sub-inspector and two other policemen were assaulted by a motorcyclist during a routine patrol at Kasba in the southern part of the city.
The motorcyclist was later arrested on charges of assaulting the police.
Earlier in Birbhum district, policemen were lynched in two separate incidents.
