Eight days on, cops return to Bhangar, allay locals’ fear

Kolkata: The police entered violence-scarred Bhangar after eight days, continuously assuring and reassuring the villagers that they had nothing to fear from the forces. On January 17 evening, the police was withdrawn from this South 24 Parganas block after two villagers were killed in the mayhem that rocked it.

The huge police force, led by district SP Sunil Chowdhury, on Wednesday conducted route marches but it faced no resistance or hostility anywhere while fanning out in different villages before reaching the contentious power grid venue in Natunhat Bazar area.

Eager to dispel the fears, misgivings and suspicions of the villagers, the police personnel persistently assured them that they were their friends. “Police had always been with you and police will always be with you. Don’t be scared of the police. We are here to help you. Please cooperate,” police personnel kept on announcing over hand-held mikes.

They carried only non-lethal weapons like batons and teargas shells. Director general of police Surajit Kar Purkayastha said peace and normalcy have been restored in Bhangar. “The villagers were earlier misguided but now they have realised their mistake. They trust the chief minister’s assurance that nothing will be done there against the villagers’ wishes,” he added.

Men, women and even children came out of their homes and watched the route march. Several schools and colleges which had been closed for the past one week reopened. Shops and markets have also started reopening.

“Peace has returned to Bhangar. We were fed up of this self-imposed curfew. We are glad that normalcy has returned,” said an elderly villager Qasim Molla.

However, members of the organisation which spearheaded the anti-power grid agitation did not share his views. They alleged that the villagers were still scared. They also did not believe that the government was sincere about disbanding the power grid.

“When the villagers were agitating, the police started a clamour that outsiders were leading the movement. Outsiders came here yesterday to lift the road blockade and remove tree trunks, logs and brick-barriers. There was hardly any villager from Bhangar with Bidhannagar mayor Sabyasachi Dutta on Tuesday,” Zulfiqar Munshi said, adding that the people had again become jittery by the presence of the large police force.