Bengal cracks down on Reliance protesters

Barely three hours after Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray declared that those who target Reliance Retail outlets face arrest...

Barely three hours after Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray declared that those who target Reliance Retail outlets face arrest, the Kolkata Police on Thursday picked up some people for questioning in connection with the ransacking of the company8217;s outlet at Girish Park.

Members of the Forward Bloc, which has been opposing the entry of the Reliance Industries subsidiary, had ransacked the Girish Park store on August 18. The same outlet was again ransacked on August 26 by the BJP. On Tuesday, Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb said the Government would provide all protection to the retail chain and FIRs lodged in various cases would be pursued.

CPIM State Secretary Biman Bose also pitched in for Reliance. 8220;The administration has done its duty by questioning people. Many other companies have come in to do retail business and so has Reliance,8221; Bose said.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Police are investigating the temporary occupation of the company8217;s outlet at Baidyabati by demonstrators on August 28. SP, Hooghly district, Rajiv Mishra said, 8220;The case is under investigation.8221;

On Thursday, members of Chhatra Bloc, the student wing of the Forward Bloc, put up a road block at Bhawanipur in protest against Reliance8217;s entry.

The Forward Bloc leadership also put up a brave front in face of the police threat. Secretary of the state unit Ashok Ghosh said: 8220;We will continue our agitation and not allow Reliance to jeopardise the interest of small retailers.8221; The party will meet the CPIM some time after September 8 to sort out the issue.

Help from farmers

Reliance may take heart from this demonstration in Nadia. A mob of 400 farmers on Thursday put up a road blockade, near UKhra, to protest against the attacks on Reliance outlets. They claimed that Reliance paid them more than what the middlemen did.