Journalism of Courage
The Kolkata police on Wednesday night arrested seven people in connection with the incident where a police vehicle was set on fire in Kolkata on Tuesday after a BJP protest march against the Trinamool Congress as part of its ‘Nabanna Abhiyan’ turned violent with clashes erupting across the city.
The seven accused were arrested during raids on Wednesday night. “Those arrested include the one who was carrying the lighter and had started burning the vehicle,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Murlidhar Sharma said.
Since Tuesday, over 112 people have been arrested in connection with the violence during BJP’s march to the state Secretariat — Nabanna — in Howrah.
Those arrested on Wednesday night are Md Hassan Ali (31), Kena Sardar (44), Bharat Sardar (32), Rajesh Sardar (30), Sankar Sardar (22), Dip Sarkar (27) and Binay Kumar Saha (36). The accused are from North 24 Parganas district, police said, adding that Dip Sarkar was the one carrying the lighter.
The case was lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code invoking the charges of rioting, unlawful assembly, voluntarily causing hurt to a public servant, mischief by fire, among others, and under sections 3 and 4 of The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and under The West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act.
The police said that the accused were traced after examining several videos of those involved in the incident. A video that went viral purportedly shows the protestors breaking the windshield and window panes of a police van at Rabindra Sarani on M G Road. Then, a man uses a cigarette lighter and sets the vehicle on fire by lighting a towel first.
