A protest over recent demolition acts involving bulldozers in Kolkata’s Tiljala area turned violent on Sunday (May 17), with demonstrators pelting stones at police personnel in the nearby Park Circus locality, which is known to be minority-dominated. At least three personnel were injured in the incident, and many vehicles were damaged. A few people were arrested, said a top-ranked police officer.
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The unrest followed a crackdown by West Bengal’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on alleged illegal structures in Tiljala, launched after a factory fire earlier this week claimed two lives.
On Sunday afternoon, a large number of people gathered near Park Circus Seven Point Crossing to protest against the anti-encroachment drive and attempted to block roads, police said.
Retaliation against cops
As the law-keepers tried to disperse, what they described as an “unlawful assembly”, a section of protesters allegedly resorted to stone-pelting, triggering chaos.
Several vehicles, parked along the roadside, including those carrying central forces, were vandalised, officials said.
A significant presence of Kolkata Police and central forces was established in the area following the clashes. Route marches and increased patrolling were conducted in neighbouring localities to avert further escalation and to restore normalcy.
Kolkata Police Additional Commissioner Ashesh Biswas stated that measures have already been taken against individuals involved in the violence.
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“Some people tried to block the road. It was an illegal gathering. The police were trying to disperse them, and there was pelting of stones. Three of our colleagues were injured,” he told reporters.
“We have already arrested a few people,” Biswas added.
According to the official, police followed standard operating procedures, and efforts were underway to identify all those involved in the violence.
“There was an attack on the police. We will see who is behind it and arrest everyone. Strict legal action will be taken,” he added.
While the police maintained the agitation was linked to administrative action against illegal buildings, some locals claimed that grievances over alleged restrictions on the use of loudspeakers during religious prayers and curbs on offering prayers on roads had also contributed to the tensions.
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The developments come close on the heels of tension in central-north Kolkata’s Rajabazar area on Friday (May 15), where a standoff broke out after a group of people allegedly attempted to offer prayers on a public road despite restrictions on blocking traffic.
According to police sources, a large contingent of personnel reached the area and asked people to vacate the road, after which the situation turned tense briefly.
Other incidents in Kolkata, Asansol
Members of the local community argued that holding Friday prayers on roads had been a long-standing practice in the locality, while the administration maintained that keeping roads clear was necessary for traffic movement and maintenance of law and order.
Police, however, did not indicate any direct connection between the Rajabazar incident and Sunday’s violence in Park Circus.
Authorities also did not immediately disclose the number of persons arrested in Sunday’s clashes or whether any protesters sustained injuries during the confrontation.
Tensions also gripped Asansol, Bengal’s second-largest city located in Paschim Bardhaman district, on Friday after a mob allegedly targeted a police outpost with stones and vandalised it following a dispute over the regulation of volume of a loudspeaker played at a local mosque. At least 10 people were arrested in connection with the incident, reports cited the police as saying.
(With agency inputs)
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