Wednesday, 14 September was business as usual near the junction of Mahatma Gandhi Road and Rabindra Sarani (Chitpur) – the streets were bustling with people, shopkeepers were calling out to potential customers, and the smell of fresh clothes, street food and jute filled the air around. If not for the frequent police visits to photograph the area and collect CCTV footage, it would be hard to corroborate what that junction witnessed merely 24 hours ago.
On Tuesday, 13 September, the Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal unit carried out their ‘Nabanno Chalo Abhiyan’ to protest the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government, in the backdrop of some of its top leaders being accused of several scams. The protest, which was supposed to start at Santragachi, Howrah Maidan and Muralidhar Sen Lane (BJP West Bengal Headquarters), turned violent.
In the events that followed, the protesting mob torched a PCR vehicle and assaulted an assistant commissioner of police. These two events, both of which were captured on camera, happened near the junction of Mahatma Gandhi Road and Rabindra Sarani.
Local Shopkeepers Recollect What Happened
The Quint spoke to the local shopkeepers in the area who witnessed how the events of the previous day unfolded. Many of these shopkeepers agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. While most of them went on with their daily lives, those who saw what happened, are still haunted by it.
Most of the shops along Mahatma Gandhi Road remained closed because that was the route that the contingent originating from the BJP West Bengal headquarters was supposed to take as they marched towards Nabanna. The few shops that were open, were shut at the first sight of stone pelting and the mob running haywire.
Since Rabindra Sarani wasn’t in the protest route, all the shops on that street remained open. A shopkeeper who runs a garments' store on that street told The Quint that they began pulling down their shutters as soon as they saw the mob clashing with the police and running in the opposite direction (towards Central Avenue) from which they were heading (towards Howrah Bridge). They said that stones were also being pelted.
A few shopkeepers remained on the streets witnessing what happened. When describing the situation, they told The Quint that there were not enough police personnel in the area. They even suggested that had there been more police personnel then the situation wouldn’t have gotten out of hand.
They narrated that the protestors were stopped not far away from Burrabazar police station, where the police had set up barricades to stop the protestors from going ahead.
It is pertinent to note here that the police had denied permission for the rally. So, the police had stopped all the three contingents from moving ahead after a certain point, and fired tear gas and water cannons and carried out a lathi charge. A similar situation unfolded here too.
When the stone pelting started, the police too retaliated, after which the protestors ran towards Central Avenue with the police chasing them. According to the locals, some of the cops got left behind in the process, who were outnumbered by the protestors. The protestors thrashed the police officials who were left behind. The mob's thrashing of Assistant Commissioner Debjit Chatterjee was caught on camera.
While the other cops got into a PCR vehicle, and drove to the mouth of Rabindra Sarani, before abandoning the vehicle, Chatterjee made his way to the same spot, on foot while being chased by the mob.
Local shopkeepers immediately gave refuge to the injured officers and the driver of the PCR vehicle in their shops. They pulled down the shutters of their shops so that the mob can’t find them.
Chatterjee was given refuge in small shoe shop called Shoe Corner, owned by Khairul Basan, the driver of the vehicle was given refuge in another shoe shop named Classic Footwear, owned by Shahid, located two shops away from Shoe Corner. The rest of the injured cops were given refuge in Haji Jamaluddin Jama Masjid Ahl-e-Sunnat mosque, located adjacent to Shoe Corner.
A young shopkeeper, in his late 20s, described that the mob chasing the police officers came from the protesting crowd, while loudly chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ while aggressively waving the BJP flag. He said that they were searching for the police officers.
Shahid told The Quint, “The protestors could not find the police officers because we had hidden them in our shops and pulled down the shutters, that’s when they started to vandalise the PCR vehicle and set it on fire.”
Protestors vandalising the PCR vehicle
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
Shahid and his co-worker told The Quint that one of the protestors was carrying fuel in a plastic bottle which was stuffed into his bag. They used that to torch the vehicle. The same can be corroborated by the video of the immolation where a person, who has now been identified as Dip Sarkar, can be seen pouring liquid from a plastic bottle into the car.
While we were constantly scared that they might come for us, no local was harmed in any way. The mob only went after the police.Local, 30
Shahid also pointed out that the protestors were carrying stones in their bags, as there were no stones lying in the vicinity that they could have pelted. This reporter surveyed the said area to confirm his claim about no stones lying around on the road or nearby areas.
Upon asking about the identities of the protestors or those seen in the video, none of the locals could recognise them, and claimed that they were not from the area.
The Good Samaritans
Locals said that the mob tried to make their way into Rabindra Sarani as they frantically searched for the cops. The locals of Rabindra Sarani meanwhile gathered, blocked the street to prevent the mob from progressing further. Basan said that it is because so many people gathered to block the street that the mob left.
It must be noted here that on Tuesday, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared a video which shows a person in a skull cap, pelting stones. Shahid told The Quint that while he didn’t know said person, he was in fact trying to keep the mob away from the shops and the locals. The person helped the local shopkeepers put their stuff away so that the fire doesn’t destroy it and tried to arrange for water to douse the fire.
While locals stood guard to prevent the mob from progressing further, Shahid, Khairul and their colleagues, not only hid the injured police officers, but also took care of them and nursed them.
Basan tells The Quint, “We saw the injured cop (Chatterjee) coming towards us. We immediately brought him inside the shop and made him lie down . He was bleeding profusely and had fractured his hand. We brought him water and nursed him as best we could. We pulled down the shutter and let him rest.”
Injuries on Chatterjee
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
Basan’s colleague, who was primarily attending to Chatterjee said that the cop needed to use the loo, so they took him through the back entrance of the mosque to the washroom.
He added that they made sure the coast was clear before they let the injured cops leave.
We did the best we could to help the officers.Khairul Basan, Shopkeeper
Arrests and War of Words
Kolkata police conducted searches throughout the night to find the accused. Over 112 people have been arrested since the day of the incident in connection to the violence. They have been booked for assault, rioting, damaging government property and violating section 144.
A total of seven FIRs – two in Burrabazar, two in Jorasanko, one in Hare Street, Bowbazar and North Port Police Station each, have been filed so far. Based on the video footage of the PCR van being set on fire, and Assistant Commissioner Chatterjee being thrashed, Kolkata police have arrested five persons – two in connection with arson and three in connection with assault. (Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
Ravi Kant Singh (35) of Beliaghata, Anup Singh (22) of New Market, and Sahil Roy (22) of Entally, have been arrested by for assaulting Chatterjee.
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Ravi Kant Singh
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
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Sahil Roy
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
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Anup Singh
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
Abhijit Roy (41), and Dip Sarkar have been arrested in connection with the torching of the PCR vehicle. Another person Paritosh Mondal has been identified by the police too, but he is still at large.
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Deep Sarkar
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
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Deep Sarkar
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
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Abhijit Roy
(Photo: Sourced by The Quint)
TMC spokesperson Riju Dutta shared a post on twitter identifying Paritosh Mondal who was seen near the PCR vehicle, to be a resident of Dinhata and having a photo with MoS and BJP MP Nisith Pramanik.
Meanwhile West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the BJP over the violence.
Had police wanted they could have opened fire, but they showed restraint. Police were attacked. Outsiders were brought in by BJP to do goondami. Everyone can protest but you can’t carry bombs & guns in name of democratic protest.Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister, West Bengal
While the war of words between the TMC and BJP were on, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee visited Chatterjee at SSKM hospital, while BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar called Chatterjee to enquire about his health. Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim visited BJP councillor Mina Devi Purohit in the hospital. Purohit was injured during the protests yesterday.
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Firhad Hakim visits Mina Devi Purohit
(Photo: TMC)
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Abhishek Banerjee visits Debjit Chatterjee
(Photo: TMC)
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