Days after communal clashes rocked Telenipara area of West Bengal’s Hooghly district, leaving one dead and eight others seriously injured, panicky members of the minority community today started migrating to safer places. ‘‘We are being tortured by both the Hindus and the police,’’ Mahammad Ilyas, a labourer at the Victoria Jute Mill near Telenipara, who was leaving the area along with his family, alleged. Shops and business establishments in the area remain closed, with people keeping indoors. There was an undeclared curfew in the area with police forcing those who came out back home. A huge police contingent along with RAF troops stood on standby. So far, 76 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, said district SP N. Ramesh Babu. The Hindu-dominated Tantipara and the nearby Muslim-dominated Sagoonbagan that saw clashes yesterday seemed more like two states with residents, mostly mill workers, not being allowed to ‘‘cross borders’’. Says Naserruddin Khan, a teacher and resident of Sagoonbagan, ‘‘It’s like an unwritten agreement, no one will enter the other’s territory.’’ The local CPI(M) has accused police of high-handedness and bias against the Muslims. ‘‘The police is picking up people, mostly from our community,’’ Mohammad Israel, a member of the CPI(M) Hooghly district committee, said. ‘‘Some officers are blatantly communal. They are harassing Muslims. I will take it up with our senior leaders,’’ he said. But police and leaders of his own party contradict him. ‘‘We are quite happy with police,’’ CPI (M) MP Roopchand Paul. He also said that an all-party peace meet would be held the next day. The police on their part point fingers at Israel. ‘‘He should go out and lead from the front. Instead, he just sits in his house and instigates,’’ said one top police official who requested anonymity. Israel was spotted sitting in his room surrounded by members of his community. The official pointed out that Israel, also secretary of the All India Jute Mill Workers Union, had been arrested in 1998 on charges of instigating violence. While some people such as Ilyas dub Saturday’s violence as ‘‘an attack on innocent worshippers’’, police say that bombs were hurled from both sides. ‘‘Even people who came for Friday prayers seemed to have been carrying bombs as both sides threw explosives at each other,’’ Babu said. Babu also also admitted that the police were harsh in quelling violence in the area that have seen communal clashes thrice before in 1972, 1980 and 1998. ‘‘The answer of terror is counter-terror,’’ Babu said. Even local Hindus accuse police of torturing them. ‘‘They are biased against us,’’ Nayana Dev, a house wife of Tantipara who sat on a dharna at the police outpost demanding release of one arrested person, alleged. Meanwhile, a semblance of normalcy returned to Telenipara on Sunday although heavy security continued. The district administration, which has so far arrested 80 persons in this connection, said is trying to identify ‘‘outsiders’’ suspected of having ‘‘created the mischief.’’ ‘‘There was no fresh tension in the area,’’ District Magistrate Subrata Biswas said.
