Left protesters turn violent as cops resort to lathicharge

Police personnel take cover as they are pelted with stones by Left supporters. (Source: Express Photo)

The rally begun at 1 pm from different parts of the city and Howrah. Trouble started when the protesters started marching towards state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah to protest against “poor” flood relief, soaring prices of essential commodities and the state government’s failure to check prices.

In Howrah, to stop the protesters, police had put up barricades on Red Road, Dufferin Road and Foreshore Road. While the Red Road rally was led by state CPM secretary Surya Kanta Mishra, the Dufferin Road gathering was led by Bose.

A protester being lathicharged. (Source: Express Photo)

At Dufferin Road, as the police stopped protesters from moving towards Nabanna, an argument ensued between the two. As police’s attempt to push away the protesters failed, they started to lathicharge the crowd. Following this, an irate mob started pelting police with stones. RAF was called in to bring the situation under control.

“I was speaking to the policemen. As soon as I turned around, I was hit on the head. As I held my head and bent down, I was hit on my legs,” Bose later said.

“Police have been acting like the volunteers of the Trinamool Congress. It looks like the state is preparing for war. Why are there so many barricades? We said it was a march to Nabanna and not to take over Nabanna. Our workers were mercilessly beaten up,” he added.

Scene after Left supporters clashed with police in Kolkata on Thursday. (Source: Express Photo)

After protesters broke two police barricades on the Red Road, they started a demonstration in front of the third one. At Foreshore Road, police fired several rounds of tear gas shells and used water canons to disperse protestors, besides resorting to lathicharge.

Later, in a statement, Left parties condemned the “brutal police action” and said people will give a “befitting reply by making their September 2 general strike a “huge” success. The CPM claimed that around 200 demonstrators, including women and senior leaders like Bose, MP Ritabrata Banerjee and others were hurt during the “unprovoked and brutal” lathicharge by police.

“This brutal police action under the orders of Trinamool Congress shows the utter contempt of this government towards the democratic rights of the people. At a time when the kisans of West Bengal are facing acute crisis caused by the policies of the central and state government, protesting kisans were sought to be silenced through state repression,” the statement read.

[related-post]

A number of police personnel, including senior officers like DC (South), DC (North), DC (Traffic) and Special CP (II), were also injured in the clash. “Around 25 police personnel, including 4 to 5 women officers, have

been injured. While Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Supratim Sarkar was taken to Bele Vue, the others have been admitted to SSKM Hospital,”

said Joint Commissioner (Headquarters) Rajeev Mishra.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who returned from Darjeeling on Thursday evening, went to the SSKM Hospital to meet the injured policemen. “Many common people, journalists and police officers have been injured. They have been admitted to different hospitals. I am taking stock of the situation and tomorrow, will say whatever I have to say,” she said.

Earlier, Commissioner of Police Surajit Kar Purakayastha too visited SSKM. CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty, who was at the hospital, slammed Purakayastha for not inquiring about the injured party supporters. “He is everyone’s CP. Why didn’t he ask about the other injured persons as well?” he said.

Terming Bose’s injury as a drama, senior Trinamool leader and minister Subrata Mukherjee said: “He was pretending to be injured. After shaking hands with people who were bleeding, he put his blood stained hands on his head.”

“The Left supporters attacked the police because very few people attended the rally. They were carrying bombs and stones in their bags and even CPM leader Mohammed Selim was seen with stones in his pockets. They could not bring in too many people and to cover it up, they attacked the police. Following this, the police had to retaliate,” he told mediapersons.

In reply, Salim accused Mukherjee of being a liar. “He is lying. This is one of the qualities you need to be successful in Trinamool. Why is he interested in my pocket? I have my purse in it. Now, I think I should be aware of him. There were TMC cadres along with police personnel who pelted us with stones,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the police have started a suo motu case of attempt to murder under Section 307 of the IPC against the protesters.