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  Metros   Kolkata  05 Jul 2017  Baduria turns into battlefield over FB post

Baduria turns into battlefield over FB post

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : Jul 5, 2017, 5:01 am IST
Updated : Jul 5, 2017, 5:01 am IST

She, however, argued that nearly a hundred or two hundred people would have been killed had the police opened fire.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (Photo: PTI)
 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (Photo: PTI)

Kolkata: Four companies of the Central paramilitary force personnel were rushed to violence-hit Baduria and its adjoining areas on Tuesday evening after the situation rapidly span out of control of the state police force as superintendent of police (North 24 Parganas) Bhaskar Mukherjee came under attack by an angry mob in broad daylight.

After the Central Reserve Police Force troops were pressed to tackle the unrest in Darjeeling recently, this time it is the BSF troops which have been deployed in the troubled zone close to the Indo-Bangla border. BSF deputy inspector-general (South Bengal frontier) R.P.S. Jaswal said, “Four companies of the BSF troops were deployed at Baduria Basirhat, Swarupnagar and Deganga.”

Sources revealed that the troops were rushed from Badu, located in the same district and also close to the spot, following a plea by the state government.

During her press meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee found fault with the police in tackling the volatile situation and expressed her dissatisfaction over its performance.

“The police also committed faults in some areas. Whenever and whatever I do, I do it impartially. On Monday itself I ordered the police to tackle the situation. Facebook should have been blocked in the very beginning when the rumour was spreading. But how many accounts can be blocked? It has become a phenomena.”

She, however, argued that nearly a hundred or two hundred people would have been killed had the police opened fire. “But I cannot shoot the people to death when there are two warring groups. So I have to keep my patience. That is why it is taking time. But no one should treat my patience as my weakness,” the chief minister said while calling for immediate peace and communal harmony in the area.

Apart from the BSF, a rapid action force team of the Kolkata police and another contingent of force of the Howrah city police led by its police commissioner D.P. Singh have also been deployed in the violence-hit areas.

Violence erupted in the area close to the Indo-Bangla border after a youth, Sourav Sarkar from Rudrapur, allegedly uploaded an inflammatory post on his Facebook account which went viral and hurt the sentiment of a minority community on Sunday leading to a clash.

Although Sourav fled in the night, he was later arrested by the police from a paddy field on Monday morning. The accused has been remanded by the Basirhat sub-division court in the police custody for four days.

But the public anger continued as many roads were blocked at Habra and Swarupnagar and the house of the accused was torched by the demonstrators.

On Tuesday when SP (North 24 Parganas) Bhaskar Mukherjee visited Jadurhati, he also came under attack. The IPS officer was injured after he was beaten up while his vehicle was ransacked by an angry mob. He was later rescued by other police personnel and was taken for treatment.

Tags: central reserve police force, mamata banerjee, bsf
Location: India, West Bengal, Calcutta [Kolkata]