West Bengal communal violence: Fresh protests in Basirhat; don’t need additional forces, Mamata govt tells MHA

A senior police officer said, “Fresh tension brewed up at Basirhat town and station area after the communal clashes in Baduria in the district. Police had to resort to cane charge and teargas shells to disperse unruly crowd.”

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, meanwhile, constituted a team comprising Om Mathur, Meenakshi Lekhi, Satyapal Singh and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who will visit the affected area and will submit a report to Shah on the issue.

Later in the day, Vijayvargiya and state unit president Dilip Ghosh were met with protests when they went to a government-run hospital to visit the relatives of a person who they claimed was killed in communal riots in Baduria. Vijayvargiya alleged that the Trinamool Congress activists stopped them. On the other hand, Ghosh alleged that the TMC workers were out to assault him and damage his vehicle.

Kailash Vijayvargiya in front of the hospital.The scuffle occured when a BJP team led by Kailash Vijayvargiya and Dilip Ghosh tried to meet Basirhat victim family in the hospital. (Source: Express photo by Partha Paul)

On Wednesday, Baduria and adjoining Basirhat, remained under complete lockdown as the state government imposed a curfew after communal violence. The violence broke out in the area on Sunday evening when a class XI student posted an “objectionable images’’ linked to the Prophet and Kaaba Sharif in Mecca on Facebook. Following this a mob vandalised shops and homes, and set fire to vehicles, triggering retaliatory attacks. The boy since has been detained and has denied putting up the post.

The MHA deployed 300 paramilitary personnel along with RAF and local police in Basirhat on Wednesday to pacify the situation. Police requested people to maintain calm using loudspeakers throughout the day. Internet services had also been withdrawn and rail links on the Barasat-Hasnabad and Barasat-Bongaon sections of Eastern Railways had been disrupted by the protesters.

Onlookers outside R G Kar hospital watching scuffle between two groups allegedly BJP and TMC. (Source: Express photo by Partha Paul)

However, the situation had worsened after the war of words between Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. Banerjee alleged that she was threatened and “insulted” by the governor, which was further denied by the Governor. Seeing the situation, BJP State President Dilip Ghosh had demanded President rule in the state on Wednesday.