Kolkata Police arrested at least fifteen people on Wednesday, 14 September, for violence that ensued in the city during the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 'March to Nabanna' rally on Tuesday, 13 September.
The arrests were made during night-long raids in Beliaghata, Topsia, and Bowbazar areas, after Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Debajit Chattopadhyay was assaulted with sticks in the Bowbazar area during the BJP's protest against the West Bengal government's alleged corruption.
"Yesterday, an ACP was grievously injured, several police personnel were also injured, Durga Puja market was disrupted, people were harassed & public properties were vandalised," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
She further added, "People from other states were brought in to create nuisance in Bengal. They (BJP) brought bombs & pistols & did hooliganism in the name of protests. I've never stopped democratic protests, but no anti-social activity will be tolerated in the name of politics."
A police vehicle was also torched near the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar.
Kolkata Police has registered 7 First Information Reports (FIRs) for unlawful assembly, violating Section 144 of the CrPC, rioting, attacking police officials, and torching a police van. Out of the 15 people arrested, three of them were arrested for attacking the assistant police commissioner and one for torching the police van.
"The raids are still going on," an officer of Kolkata Police told news agency PTI on Wednesday afternoon.
Chattopadhyay suffered multiple fractures and is presently undergoing treatment at a hospital.
'BJP Being Framed'
Responding to the allegations about the attack on the police official, BJP's national Vice-President Dilip Ghosh said that the attacks were the handiwork of Trinamool Congress supporters who got into the rally.
"Our activists are being framed and false charges slapped against them," Ghosh alleged.
Further, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, commenting on the violence that unfolded during the protests, wondered what would happen if the West Bengal government follows the Uttar Pradesh "model" and "sends bulldozers to the homes of BJP workers who destroyed public property."
'Tremendous Restraint in Face of Provocation': TMC
Meanwhile, TMC's Sougata Roy on Tuesday decried the BJP for accusing TMC chief Mamata Banerjee of running a 'dictatorship' in West Bengal, and said that the Bengal police have shown "tremendous restraint" in the face of "extreme provocation."
The Trinamool MP said, "Where did Mamata Banerjee show dictatorship? The programme (BJP rally) has been continuing since noon. The police have not fired on anybody."
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, MP Locket Chatterjee, and party leader Rahul Sinha were detained and whisked away in a prison van, and later released.
Following the chaos, Adhikari accused Banerjee of being a dictator.
What Did Suvendu Adhikari Say?
The TMC turncoat censured Banerjee saying, "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee does not have the support of her people and so she is enforcing dictatorship, similar to North Korea, in Bengal. The police will have to pay for what it is doing. The BJP is coming."
He later took to Twitter to say:
What Happened on Tuesday?
Earlier on Tuesday, 56 police personnel were injured in Kolkata and Howrah during the BJP's attempt to visit Santragachi during the party's march to the state secretariat ‘Nabanna'.
Purported BJP workers also resorted to stone-pelting in Howrah's Santraganchi, and visuals of torched police vehicles flooded the internet.
TMC workers took to social media to speak of 'BJP's hooliganism' by the evening.
"Today, not just Bengal but the nation saw a glimpse of what BJP hooligans are capable of doing to our City of Joy."
Official sources confirmed that a total of 139 people were arrested, and six cases were registered. 56 police personnel have been injured, among which two have sustained severe injuries.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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