Prophet remarks row: Bengal BJP president arrested; Governor appeals for peace as contemporary violence breaks out

By PTI

KOLKATA: BJP’s West Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar was arrested on Saturday afternoon when he was on the way in which to violence-hit Howrah district, police stated.

Majumdar, the MP of Balurghat in Uttar Dinajpur, was arrested close to the toll plaza on Vidyasagar Setu, they stated.

“Mr Majumdar was trying to travel to Howrah where prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been clamped. His visit could have created a law and order situation. This is a preventive arrest,” a senior police officer advised PTI.

Majumdar stated the state of affairs in West Bengal was fast-turning into that in Kashmir.

“First, they stopped me at my home. I was put under house arrest. Later, they allowed me to leave my residence. Now, they have stopped me on Vidyasagar Setu and arrested me. The police are saying that as prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed, no one will be allowed to visit the area,” he advised reporters earlier than being taken into custody.

“We used to read news about leaders in Kashmir being put under house arrest. Today, a similar thing happened here. The state is fast turning into Kashmir,” he added.

Following Majumdar’s arrest, BJP leaders and employees hit the streets in protest.

BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul together with a whole lot of occasion employees rushed to Lalbazar, the headquarters of Kolkata Police, to protest towards the arrest.

Similar protests had been additionally underway in Uttar Dinajpur, Cooch Behar, Birbhum and Jalpaiguri districts.

The Trinamool Congress lauded the police motion towards Majumdar, alleging that he was going to trouble-torn Howrah to fan communal tensions.

“Police did the right thing by stopping him,” TMC MLA Tapas Ray stated.

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim demanded the arrest of now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma whose inflammatory remarks on Prophet Mohammad sparked the violence in Howrah on Friday.

“She should be arrested immediately. BJP is trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the country,” he stated.

BJP nationwide vice-president Dilip Ghosh, nonetheless, managed to enter Howrah and go to the areas the place places of work of his occasion had been attacked.

“The lawless situation here reflects the administration’s failure,” Ghosh stated.

Internet providers have been suspended throughout Howrah until June 13 and prohibitory orders beneath Section 144 of CrPC imposed in areas similar to Uluberia, Domjur and Panchla, following the violence.

Fresh violence was reported in Panchla Bazaar space on Saturday as protesters clashed with the police and several other homes had been set on hearth, a senior officer stated.

Protesters pelted policemen with stones, injuring a few of them, and in addition vandalised a BJP occasion workplace.

Several hearth tenders had been pressed into service as police lobbed tear fuel shells to disperse the protesters, the officer stated, including the state of affairs was “under control” in the mean time.

“The agitators have been dispersed. Some policemen have been injured in the stone-pelting. We are conducting a route march in the area. The situation is under control,” he stated.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday expressed concern over the “worsening law and order” state of affairs within the state, following protests in a number of elements of Howrah district.

He requested Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to deal sternly with the issue and take motion towards lawbreakers.

“Concerned at worsening law & order situation. Inaction @chief_west@WBPolice @KolkataPolice is unfortunate endorsement of the criminality of law violators. Appeal #MamataBanerjee to sternly deal with lawbreakers. All involved be identified and arrested,” Dhankhar wrote on Twitter.

The state of affairs in Howrah, which witnessed violent protests towards controversial remarks of suspended BJP spokespersons, was peaceable on Saturday morning, officers stated.

Protesters clashed with police personnel in Dhulagarh, Panchla and Uluberia areas when regulation enforcers tried to finish a blockade on a nationwide freeway stretch on Friday.

They set police automobiles on hearth and broken public property throughout the agitations.

Internet providers have been suspended throughout the district until June 13 and prohibitory orders beneath Section 144 of the CrPC imposed in a number of areas similar to Uluberia, Domjur and Panchla until June 15.

Commuters needed to face issues as highway and railway tracks had been blocked by protesters within the district.

Several native and categorical trains had been cancelled because of the violence.