Section 144 imposed in West Bengal’s Ekbalpore after clashes between two groups; TMC, BJP trade blame

West Bengal clashes: According to police, two groups clashed in the area on Sunday evening over some local issues in which several people were injured. Police personnel, including those of the Rapid Action Force, were deployed and Section 144 Cr PC was imposed in the area since Sunday night.

Kolkata: The authorities in West Bengal have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the Ekbalpore area after a clash between two groups of people from two different communities that erupted on October 9. According to police, two groups clashed in the area on Sunday evening over some local issues in which several people were injured. Police personnel, including those of the Rapid Action Force, were deployed and Section 144 Cr PC was imposed in the area since Sunday night.

West Bengal | Section 144 has been imposed in Ekbalpore area after a clash between two groups of people from two different communities erupted on Oct 9 https://t.co/MDlVZ3nLSX — ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2022

Ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP were engaged in a verbal duel on Monday over clashes between two groups in the Khidderpore-Mominpur area in southwest Kolkata that left several people injured. The saffron camp claimed that law and order have worsened in West Bengal, drawing a sharp retort from the ruling TMC, which accused the BJP of trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the state.

CPI-M on the other hand said that the incident was engineered by land sharks to take control of slums in the area and blamed both TMC and BJP of trying to make it an issue to gain political mileage. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar tried to visit the area on Monday but was stopped at the Chingrighata area of east Kolkata and asked to return as prohibitory orders under Section 144 Cr PC had been clamped in the area. He was later arrested and released after a few hours.

"Sukanta Majumdar was later arrested and taken to Lalbazar police headquarters. The area is now under Section 144 Cr PC but he was adamant about going there. We tried to persuade him, it did not yield any result," a senior police official said. "I have written to Hon'ble Union Home Minister Shri@AmitShah Ji & Hon'ble Governor Shri La Ganesan Ji requesting them to urgently deploy central forces in the wake of Mominpur violence and ransacking of Ekbalpur police station before the law and order situation of West Bengal gets out of hand," Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari tweeted.

The @BJP4Bengal Legislature Party has submitted the following Memorandum to Hon'ble Governor Shri La Ganesan Ji, requesting him to take urgent steps, such as deploying Central Forces, forming a High Level Committee, NIA investigation etc in the wake of Mominpur violence. pic.twitter.com/aU2rtMhggp — Suvendu Adhikari • শুভেন্দু অধিকারী (@SuvenduWB) October 10, 2022

TMC hit out at the saffron camp for allegedly trying to "vitiate the atmosphere in the state". Its senior leader Sougata Roy said the police had taken all the steps needed to bring the situation under control.

"The miscreants involved in the incident have been arrested. What will Sukanta Majumdar do by going there apart from giving hate speeches? The BJP is trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the state. The BJP should stop politicising every incident," Roy said.

Later in the afternoon, Adhikari took out a protest march from the West Bengal state assembly to Raj Bhawan to register the BJP's protest against the arrest of Majumdar. "We had come to the governor to register our protest. Is this the way a state president of the main opposition party is treated? The state government has completely failed to control the situation," he said.

The party also took out a protest march from its state headquarters in central Kolkata to the city police headquarters at Lalbazar. BJP cadres in various parts of the state squatted on roads and important intersections, demanding the immediate release of Majumdar.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh accused BJP of trying to disturb the peace in the state. West Bengal CPI-M state secretary Md Salim claimed that the incident was engineered by land sharks and that the TMC and BJP are trying to gain political mileage from it.

(With Agency inputs)