The rally started from Bidhan Bhavan, the party headquarters in Entally, to Esplanade.

Just over 58 per cent of the latest cases and 48 deaths were reported from the South Bengal pandemic hotspot comprising Kolkata, its three neighbouring districts, and Hooghly.

Balwinder Singh was allegedly beaten up, manhandled and his turban removed in a scuffle during the Nabanna Abhiyan. Police seized a licensed handgun from him from the spot.

The MP claimed his nephew was arrested because of the Trinamool Congress’s vendetta against him.

Apart from manning the streets, Kolkata Police officers will also keep a watch on Puja pandals ensuring smooth passage of visitors while maintaining social distancing norms and wearing masks.

Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay said the government had not given permission to the march as the applicants for it had on Wednesday evening said that several rallies would be taken out and that each would have around 25,000 participants.

BJP president J P Nadda said he wants to tell Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee again that his party workers had resolved to fight against her “corrupt, violent and dictatorial” rule democratically to restore Bengal's lost glory and pride.

The state government denied the allegations and said a regular dye used during Holi was used to identify the BJP workers.

A senior officer of Kolkata Police said, "We will not take action first, but if they will try to break the barricade, then we will have to take action."

According to sources, so far many suspects have been detained and interrogated. They claimed on Thursday that the investigators would soon solve the case.

Several BJP workers, including state vice-president Raju Banerjee, were injured in the clash. Party workers also set tyres on fire as a mark of protest.

The recovery rate has improved to 87.97 per cent against the national rate of 84.7 per cent.

The CM also suggested that people coming in trucks from other states must carry their own food as the virus is spreading when they stop at dhabas.

Dhankhar said the Home Department was “maligning the Constitutional head by labelling his input (on the state crime rate) as “baseless, ill-founded and misguiding'” and urged transparency on the matter from the Mamata Banerjee government.

She repeatedly reminded people of Junglemahal that she had done everything for them. “I gave you what you wanted. Now, you also have to give me something.”

After meeting BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Shukla’s family in the evening, the Governor called for “an independent expert probe” into the killing. The family and the saffron party have sought a CBI investigation.

According to the state health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, 61 deaths in 24 hours took the toll to 5,255.

With the latest incident of political violence, things appear to have come to a head. On Sunday night, local BJP leader and strongman Manish Shukla was gunned down by masked assailants in Titagarh while he was chatting with some people at a tea stall near a makeshift party office.

As part of a 12-hour bandh in Barrackpore area to protest the killing, BJP workers and supporters burnt tyres and blocked major thoroughfares, including BT Road, Barrackpore-Barasat Road and Kalyani Expressway, which brought traffic to a complete standstill.

The protesters, holding placards, squatted in front of the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road. They demanded justice for rape victims in the state.

The protesters broke police barricades near Esplanade Metro Channel and raised slogans demanding justice for the Hathras victim. They also protested against the increasing incidents of rape and crime against women in West Bengal.

Only six members of a deceased person’s family can attend the cremation or the burial.

However, Bengal’s discharge rate continued to move upwards, rising to 87.8 per cent on the back of the recovery of 2,961 patients.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also condoled the death of the 55-year-old officer. Till date, almost 2,800 Kolkata Police personnel have tested positive for the disease, said sources.