\u201cPeople were brought in trains from Bihar and other places to create trouble,\u201d said the chief minister of Bengal.\u00a0 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers who clashed with the police in Kolkata and Howrah during an agitation on Tuesday were armed with bombs and guns, chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Wednesday.\u00a0 She said the government wasn\u2019t against peaceful protests but \u201cthe BJP and its supporters resorted to violence, vandalism and arson\u201d.<\/p>\n
About 20 people have been arrested for assaulting policemen and setting a police vehicle on fire during the BJP\u2019s march to Nabanna, the state secretariat, in protest against corruption during the Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police could have opened fire if it wanted to but it is not desirable. They tried their best to control the situation\u2026 We never stop democratic movements. All people have the right to hold democratic movements but hooliganism cannot be a part of it. Police will take action against those involved in the attacks and arson,\u201d Banerjee said at an administrative meeting in the East Midnapore district.<\/p>\n
The BJP leadership denied the allegations even as social media was flooded with photos and videos of policemen being assaulted.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrinamool Congress (TMC) planned the violence and its workers were planted to carry out the attacks. Our men were not involved. We are fully sympathetic toward the injured police officers who are in the hospital. I called up one of them,\u201d said Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar.<\/p>\n
In Delhi, former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the attacks were carried out to divert people\u2019s attention from cracks in the TMC.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre we to understand that this was done to divert attention from the differences developing between two leaders in the TMC? I do not want to take names,\u201d Prasad said, indirectly hinting at Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek, the TMC\u2019s national general secretary.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf peaceful democratic movements are crushed in this manner, then we have to take steps according to the Constitution,\u201d Prasad added.<\/p>\n
Police used batons, water cannons, tear gas shells and stun grenades at several locations on Tuesday to disperse BJP workers who were found pelting stones and glass bottles, leaving many men in uniform bleeding. The clashes took place mainly at Santragachhi in Howrah and Mahatma Gandhi Road, Burrabazar, and Brabourne Road in Kolkata.<\/p>\n
BJP workers fought pitched battles with the police for several hours at several locations after they were stopped from moving toward the secretariat.<\/p>\n
Police said 27 personnel including officers were injured in the violence.<\/p>\n
Abhishek Banerjee visited the SSKM hospital on Wednesday afternoon to see Debjit Chatterjee, an assistant commissioner of Kolkata Police who suffered multiple fractures in his right arm when he was assaulted with sticks while trying to run away from a mob. The incident was caught on camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hailed the officer for the restraint he showed. I asked him why he did not open fire. Had I been there in his place, I would have shot the culprits in the head,\u201d Abhishek Banerjee said.<\/p>\n
BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar took a dig at him for the statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems Abhishek Banerjee asked the police to become trigger happy from now on. We are ready for any eventuality,\u201d Majumdar said.<\/p>\n
Inspector-in-charge of Howrah\u2019s Jagachha police station, Satinath Chattaraj, suffered injury in his right eye during stone pelting by BJP workers. He is also in hospital.<\/p>\n
Mamata Banerjee told officials at the East Midnapore meeting that she called up Chattaraj to inquire about his condition.<\/p>\n
A third officer in hospital is Sarafraz Ahmed, the additional officer-in-charge of Kolkata\u2019s Jorabagan police station.<\/p>\n
Senior BJP leader Meena Devi Purohit also suffered head injuries on Tuesday. Cabinet minister and Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim visited her at the hospital.<\/p>\n
Heavily critized citizens tweeted, “Brutally beaten a police officer. This is not at all tolerated in the country. #ShameonBJP #BanBJP”<\/p>\n
\nBrutally beaten a police officer. This is not at all tolerated in the country. #ShameonBJP<\/a> #BanBJP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/L2Gfhm8OEw<\/a><\/p>\n
— Sathya Chilumula (@CSM_NRITRSUK) September 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n