News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Communal clashes in UP: Total 345 persons arrested so far; posters out to identify trouble makers

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Total 345 persons, including 91 in Prayagraj and 82 in Saharanpur, have been arrested so far by the UP police in connection with the violence that erupted after the Friday prayers in five districts of the state on June 10.

    Moreover, 18 persons, including 12 Hindus and six Muslims, have also been held in Saharanpur for allegedly posting hate speech on social media over the last week, Senior Superintendent of Police Akash Tomar said on Monday.

    On the lookout for those involved in stone pelting at the police and defying law and order restrictions, police authorities in Firozabad and Ambedkarnagar put out the posters of the accused on Monday.

    Separate teams were formed in Prayagraj, Saharanpur, and Hathras to sift through the CCTV cameras footages to trace those defying law.

    “We have arrested 16 in Firozabad, 41 in Ambedkarnagar, 35 in Moradabad, 100 in Saharanpur, 92 in Prayagraj, 51 in Hathras, six in Aligarh, and four in Jalaun, taking the tally of those arrested to 345,” said Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General of police, Law and Order.

    The ADG (L&O) added that monitoring of the violence-hit districts and the subsequent action taken by police authorities was being done by the DGP office.

    “A dedicated social media team is keeping a vigil on messages vitiating the atmosphere through social media,” added ADG Prashant Kumar.

    On Monday, Ambedkarnagar district police circulated 60 photographs of those who indulged in stone pelting and sloganeering after Friday prayers in Tanda on June 10.

    The police also placed Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind district head Mufti Mehboob-u-Rehman under house arrest.

    “We are also taking statements of locals who were present on the spot when the incident took place, and also scanning videos on net and from the local journalists based on which further action will be taken,” said Vijendra Sharma, SHO, Tanda.

    In Moradabad,  some You Tubers are under scanner of district police as they were believed to have incited the people after Friday prayers.

    In Firozabad, posters of 24 involved in stone pelting were put at all major crossings to identify them and nab them.

    District Police chiefs of Prayagraj, Saharanpur and Hathras scanned  CCTV cameras to identify the trouble makers. Inpector General, Saharanpur, Preetinder Singh, took out the flag march to maintain peace besides supervising the investigation into the communal flare-up.

    Meanwhile, to maintain peace and order, Moradabad police started ‘Jan Chaupal’ where the small police teams set up by SP Hemant Kutiyal to dissuade youth from becoming a part of lawlessness and hate mongering.

    “We have reached out to 57 colonies since Sunday, where we are trying to convince the youth to focus of more constructive things than wasting their time on spreading hatred in the society,” said Kutiyal.

    On the other, as a fallout of the demolition of Javed Mohammad’s house in Prayagraj, the shopkeepers and residents of other localities of the city, including Atala, vacated the illegal constructions which they had been occupying for years fearing action against them.

    The houses of 92 persons arrested so far in Prayagraj for their alleged role in the violent protests of June 10, had reportedly been identified by the administration and the status of the legality of properties was being cross checked by teams of PDA and revenue department, said the local sources.

    Notably, Atala locality of the Sangam city witnessed huge stone pelting by the rioters who were emerging from the streets to attack the police forces, common man and media persons during the June 10 protests. The vandals had destroyed a number of vehicles parked by the roadside.

    After three days of the violent protests, roads are lying deserted in Atala locality with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces. However, the small roadside vendors are bearing the brunt of the situation as their earnings have taken a big hit due to the unrest.

  • Kanpur clashes: ED seeks details of three persons held for funding main accused

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Monday,  approached Kanpur police seeking details of the three persons arrested in connection with violent protests in Kanpur on June 3 and their alleged link Popular Front of India (PFI).

    ED will scan their financial transactions to ascertain if there was any money-laundering by the three namely —  Saifullah, Mohammad Naseem and Mohammad Umar.

    It may be recalled that Kanpur had witness a communal flare-up in different localities when members of minority community took to streets to protest after Friday prayers on June 3 against the statement of Nupur Sharma, ex-BJP spokesperson, over Prophet Mohammad.

    Around a dozen persons were injured during the protests which took a violent turn as the protestors started hurling stones, crude bombs on common people while trying to force the shopkeepers to down shutters in Nai Sadak and Yateemkhana areas of the city after Friday prayers.

    The three persons allegedly linked with PFI came under the ED scanner after Kanpur police got the leads that they had funded the prime accused of Kanpur flare-up, Hayat Zafar Hashmi for mobilizing the crowd and staging the protest.

    “The three including Saifullah, Mohammad Naseem and Mohammad Umar, having affiliation to PFI, were also identified during violence against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019. They were arrested then also,” said Vijay Singh Meena, Kanpur police commissioner.

    As per ED sources, the transactions of the three arrested accused and also Hayat Zafar Hashmi would be scanned after getting their details and of the case from the Kanpur police.

    Last year, ED in its charge-sheet had said that Popular Front of India (PFI) men got finances from abroad to help their alleged bid to disturb communal harmony in Hathras after alleged gang rape of a minor girl which led to her death in September, 2020.

  • ‘Unemployment most burning issue in country’: Varun Gandhi hits out at Centre again

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Noting that unemployment is the most burning issue in the country, BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Monday appreciated AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi for mentioning him while raising the issue in a speech.

    Gandhi, who has often put the government in a dock over a host of issues, posted a video of a speech of the fiery Hyderabad MP who cited a large number of vacancies in different sectors of government and added that the figures were first quoted by the BJP leader.

    “Unemployment today is the country’s most burning issue, and leaders from across the country should draw the government’s attention to this. Unemployed youths should be given justice. Only then the country will grow strong,” Gandhi tweeted.

    He said he was thankful to Owaisi for mentioning the questions raised by him over the issue in his address.

  • Congress protest march in support of corruption: BJP 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI:  The BJP on Monday criticised the protest march of the Congress against the ED summons to its leader Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case, saying members of the opposition party have hit the streets in support of corruption and to allegedly protect over Rs 2,000 crore assets of the Gandhi family.

    Addressing a press conference, BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani said the show of strength by the Congress is aimed at putting pressure on the probe agency, and asserted that nobody is above the law “even Rahul Gandhi”.

    Congress members should also ask Rahul Gandhi about his family’s relations with Dotex Merchandise, which she described as a hawala operator whose transactions have been flagged by the Financial Intelligence Unit.

    The BJP leader alleged that the Gandhi family floated Young Indian to grab the assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore of Associated Journals Limited, which publishes the National Herald newspaper.

    Never before such a blatant attempt was made by a political family to hold a probe agency to ransom, she said. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday appeared before the ED here for questioning in the National Herald money-laundering investigation.

  • ‘We can’t hold people to ransom by violent protests’: Bengal cleric’s body to Mamata

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Stating that people cannot be held to ransom by violence, an association of Muslim clerics on Sunday night urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not to grant permission to any more rally to protest against controversial comments on Prophet Mohammad by two BJP leaders.

    The Bengal Imams Association also asked members of the community not to fall into the traps of vested interests and indulge in violence.

    President of the association Md Yahia said in a video statement that violence, arson and attacking properties and police personnel by a section of minority community members in the name of agitation have hurt the economy and caused great hardships to the general public.

    “While the comments of Nupur Sharma and another BJP leader are unacceptable and we are awaiting administrative action, we cannot hold people of the state to ransom by violent protests that are taking place in pockets of Howrah, Murshidabad and Nadia districts.

    Setting on fire properties and pelting the police with stones and being lathi-charged by the police cannot boost the image of a devoutly religious man or his icon,” he said.

    Yahia had on Thursday called for protests inside mosques across the state, demanding the arrest of the two BJP leaders, but said the administration is free to take action against people who are blocking roads and inconveniencing the public.

  • ‘High time PM breaks silence on proliferation of Islamophobic incidents’: Tharoor

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Amid outrage over the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by the BJP’s now-sacked two functionaries, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said it is high time Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on the “proliferation of hate speech and Islamophobic incidents” in the country, asserting that his silence is interpreted by some as condoning what has been happening.

    In an interview with PTI, Tharoor said the irony is that in recent years the Indian government has taken “impressive steps” to strengthen relations with Islamic countries, but that risks being “seriously undermined”.

    The former Union minister also weighed in on the ongoing debate on the need for blasphemy laws in the country, and said he is not a fan of such laws because the history of such laws elsewhere is littered with their misuse and abuse.

    “The existence of a blasphemy law tends to encourage both excessive frivolous litigation and mob misconduct by those who take the law into their own hands. I think our current hate speech laws and Section 295A are quite adequate to deal with such misbehaviour,” Tharoor said.

    The issue is of the willingness of the police and local authorities to enforce the law, without fear or favour, against whoever violates it, he said.

    “Exemplary action against any and all offenders will have a salutary effect in reducing such cases in future,” the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

    Asked about the outrage and condemnation from a number of Muslim-majority nations over the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad and calls that Prime Minister Modi should have intervened in the matter when the comments were made, Tharoor said, “I believe it is high time the PM broke his silence on the proliferation of hate speech and Islamophobic incidents in our country, because his silence is interpreted by some as condoning what has been happening.”

    “I am sure he (Modi) understands that this kind of divisive rhetoric is undermining his own vision for India’s development and prosperity,” he said.

    Social cohesion and national harmony are a must for any nation to progress and grow, Tharoor asserted.

    “That is why, in the name of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas’, he must publicly call for a stop to such behaviour,” he said.

    Asked about the impact of the row over diplomacy and foreign policy, Tharoor said the irony is that in recent years the Indian government has taken impressive steps to strengthen relations with Islamic countries, especially in the Gulf.

    “That risks being seriously undermined, as the media in these countries is replete with stories about the increasing ‘demonisation’ of Muslims in our country,” the former minister of state for external affairs said.

    The BJP had last Sunday suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal after their controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad.

    Two persons succumbed to gunshot wounds in Jharkhand capital Ranchi and fresh demonstrations were held in West Bengal’s Howrah on Saturday as tension prevailed in several parts of the country, a day after the violent protests against the controversial remarks.

    On the protests, Tharoor said section 295A of the Indian Penal Code clearly makes it a criminal offence to outrage “the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India”; anyone who by ‘words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or religious beliefs’ of Indians should have been prosecuted by the police.

    “I am glad to see that action is being taken, even if belatedly, against those who injected such toxic elements into our national discourse,” he said.

    Asked about the Congress being accused of peddling in ‘soft Hindutva’ in the past and if the party needs to take an aggressive stance on issues of the minorities such as the row over the comments on the Prophet, Tharoor said he believes the Congress has been clear in its denunciation of this recent incident.

    “We believe in an inclusive idea of India and should and must speak up whenever that idea is violated by word or deed — whoever does it,” he asserted.

  • Prophet row: BJP Bengal chief holds demonstration in Kolkata; Suvendu prevented from visiting violence-hit Howrah

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Sunday held a sit-in before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi here protesting against the alleged failure of the West Bengal government to contain violence in Howrah district.

    The Gandhi statue at the Mayo Road-Dufferin Road crossing in central Kolkata has been witness to numerous protests.

    Majumdar, who started his agitation around noon, also flayed the alleged attempt of the TMC-run government to stop opposition leaders from meeting people, hit by the recent violence.

    Widespread violence broke out in Howrah district on Friday over inflammatory comments by now-suspended BJP functionaries Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal.

    The BJP leader alleged that the police had not taken prompt action to prevent the violence from spiralling in Panchla, Uluberia, Dhulagarh in Howrah district, and Beldanga in Murshidabad district at the outset.

    Majumdar and his supporters were arrested on Saturday while trying to visit Howrah district where several saffron party offices were attacked, as the district was under prohibitory orders and gatherings of five or more people were banned there.

    The BJP leader and his companions were, however, later released.

    TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told reporters, “The BJP has no moral right to talk on the issue as the comments of Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal triggered the outrage and hurt the sentiments of people of a particular community and lowered the image of the country abroad.”

    High drama was witnessed at Tamluk in Purba Medinipur district on Sunday afternoon as West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari was prevented by police from visiting violence-hit areas in Howrah.

    He was later allowed to proceed after a two-hour-long stand-off on the condition that he would go straight to Kolkata, without making any pit stop in violence-hit areas in adjoining Howrah district.

    Adhikari said he would move the court on Monday over being prevented from visiting the areas affected by violent protests over controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad by now suspended BJP spokespersons.

    Police claimed preventing him from travelling to Howrah was a “precautionary measure” as prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have been clamped in many areas in the district and his visit may have caused law and order problems.

    Adhikari was moving with his security entourage when he was stopped by a huge police team at Radharani More in Tamluk.

    He was not accompanied by any other BJP leader.

    “We have received information that Adhikari was planning to visit Howrah district, in parts of which Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed. So, as a precautionary measure, we had to prevent him from going there as his visit may have caused a law and order problem,” a senior police officer told PTI.

    Adhikari remained seated inside the vehicle, claiming he had no intention of visiting Howrah.

    He was also reluctant to return to his hometown Kanthi in Purba Medinipur district from where he had started.

    He engaged in heated arguments with police officers present at the spot, stating that he wanted to have lunch and take rest at a guest house in Kolaghat in Purba Medinipur district, before proceeding to Kolkata.

    “I have been unlawfully obstructed by @WBPolice on NH 116 at Radhamoni under Tamluk PS. @MedinipurSp is there a Curfew in place in Purba Medinipur District or Section 144 has been imposed? I am moving towards Kolaghat for having lunch. How is it prohibited?” Adhikari said in a series of tweets from the spot.

    “I wonder why @WBPolice DGP @mmalaviya1 is using the Police personnel to obstruct @BJP4Bengal leadership when the need of the hour is to deploy them across WB where rioters are having a free run destroying & looting public & private properties,” he added.

    Adhikari said he has a programme to attend at Indian Museum in Kolkata in the afternoon and assembly session will take place on Monday.

    After this, police allowed him to proceed but on the condition that he won’t make any pit stop in troubled areas in Howrah district and go straight to Kolkata, ending the two-hour-long stand-off.

    Upon reaching Kolkata, Adhikari straightaway went to the site of party colleague and state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar’s sit-in demonstration against alleged failure of the Mamata Banerjee government in containing violent incidents in Howrah.

    “I did not get down from my vehicle, even while passing by our gutted party office in Uluberia. I offered by tributes with folded hands as the car slowed down. We will later purify it with Ganga water,” he said.

    Adhikari alleged that he was not treated in a proper manner and such treatment was never meted out to the then LoPs Pankaj Banerjee or Partha Chatterjee during the previous Left Front rule.

    He also alleged that Majumdar was prevented from visiting Howrah on Saturday to “hide” torching of properties by a mob in Panchla.

    Majumdar was arrested on Saturday afternoon when he was heading towards Howrah district.

    He was later released.

    In an apparent reference to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Adhikari said, “Only aunt and nephew are given security by police in the state.”

    Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar also sought an update from Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi over Adhikari not being allowed to visit Howrah.

    “Chief Secretary @chief_west has been called to effect immediate response to the communication sent by Hon’ble Leader of Opposition. This in context of earlier curtailment of his rights is inappropriate. Why have undeclared emergency!” the governor tweeted, sharing an image of a letter earlier written by Adhikari to Dwivedi urging the administration not to prevent him from visiting damaged BJP party offices.

    In the letter, Adhikari wrote, “many BJP party offices in Howrah district have been vandalised and as the LoP, I will be visiting such vandalised offices alone. The question of violating Sec 144 of CrPC does not arise. I will hereby require your good office to ensure I am not prevented from visiting the vandalised party offices in Howrah.”

    Before leaving his home, Adhikari had said he would move the court on Monday if he was stopped from visiting vandalised BJP offices in Howrah district.

    His assertion came after Kanthi Police Station in Purba Medinipur district issued a letter asking him not to visit Howrah as prohibitory orders are clamped in several areas in the district.

    The letter, issued by the officer-in-charge of Kanthi Police Station, stated that concern over his security was the main reason for asking him not to visit parts of Howrah district where Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed.

    “I will visit our party offices in Howrah district that were ransacked. Police have asked me not to visit areas where Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed. But I will not violate prohibitory orders as I will go there alone.”

    “If I am stopped by the police, I will move the court tomorrow (Monday). An LoP can’t be stopped from visiting a trouble-torn area,” Adhikari said before leaving his Kanthi residence.

    “After putting BJP WB President Sukanta Majumdar under detention, Mamata Banerjee is now ensuring that LoP Suvendu Adhikari is not able to visit Howrah, where BJP offices have been gutted.

    Her entire focus is on the opposition, not on rampaging ‘Dudhel Gais’ (milch cows), as she calls them,” BJP’s West Bengal co-in charge Amit Malviya tweeted.

    Reacting to the development, senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that Adhikari wanted to visit Howrah with the intention of fanning trouble.

    “What is the need for visiting areas where Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed? He wanted to visit Howrah to create trouble.

    The BJP wants to destroy the peaceful atmosphere in the state,” he said.

    State minister Sashi Panja said that Adhikari should cooperate with the state administration for maintenance of law and order.

    “Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC is already imposed in the areas Adhikari wanted to visit. He should not visit those places as it might cause trouble,” she said.

    Protests erupted in several parts of Howrah district on Friday over controversial remarks by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled leader Naveen Jindal on Prophet Mohammad.

    Agitators resorted to stone-pelting, setting police vehicles on fire and damaging public property during violent protests and clashes with the law enforcers in the district.

    Fresh violent protests were reported in Panchla on Saturday.

    Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have been clamped in several areas of Howrah including Uluberia, Panchla and Domjur till June 15 and internet services have been suspended in the entire district till June 13 to prevent the spread of misinformation.

    A lawyer has filed a complaint against suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma with the Contai police station, police said here on Sunday.

    Abu Sohel, who stated that he is a lawyer, filed the complaint through an e-mail dated June 11 to the inspector in charge of Contai police station in Purba Medinipur district.

    He sought that an FIR be registered against Sharma for her remarks.

    A senior officer of Contai police station said that the e-mail has been received.

    Sharma who made an objectionable statement about the Prophet during a TV debate on the Gyanvapi controversy was suspended by the saffron party after many Islamic countries raised objections to it.

  • Amid Prophet remarks row, two arrested in UP’s Bhadohi over ‘objectionable’, ‘inciting’ Facebook posts

    By PTI

    BHADOHI: Two people were arrested on Sunday in Bhadohi district on charges of ‘inciting religious sentiments’ through Facebook posts, police here said.

    According to Superintendent of Police Dr Anil Kumar, one Chaudhary Azhar, a resident of Suryawa Police Station area, had made some “caste-specific” posts on Facebook against Nupur Sharma after some people took out a procession in her support on Saturday.

    Durgesh Singh, the second accused, from Kotwali area, had also made a post on the same site “hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community,” he said.

    The SP said that police took note of the posts made by the two men and booked them under relevant sections.

    He also appealed to the general public to avoid making objectionable remarks on social media and maintain peace, warning them of “strict legal action” if they do otherwise.

    People in Gopiganj Police Station area of the district had taken out a procession in support of Nupur Sharma, a former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party, on Saturday evening.

    Police have registered an FIR against 46 people in this matter for violation of Section 144, the SP said.

    Eleven people have been named in this FIR and 35 are unidentified persons – all of whom are alleged to have participated in the procession.

    Police is in the process of initiating their arrest, the senior police officer added.

  • Fresh violence rocks Bengal, 60 people arrested, cleric served notice

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: At least 60 people were arrested after a wave of fresh violence in the industrial district of Howrah, parts of Murshidabad district and South 24 Parganas, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vowed to take strict action against “those attempting to instigate riots in the state”.

    Police chiefs were shunted out to bring in officers with “tough” reputations into areas scarred by violence since Friday and the Pirzada of Furfura Sharif, a cleric with political ambitions was served a notice Saturday by the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) Saturday for using children in violent demonstrations.

    West Bengal | Clashes broke out in Murshidabad district. Police personnel at the spot pic.twitter.com/0vHuwGDFzi
    — ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2022
    Suspension of internet services which had been clamped since Friday on Howrah district was extended to parts of Murshidabad district too Saturday. The violent demonstrations and protests are targeted against comments by suspended BJP leader spokespersons on Prophet Mohammad.

    At least 60 people were arrested and booked under IPC sections that deal with rioting, attempt to murder and causing damage to public properties, among others, in connection with violence in West Bengal’s Howrah district, police said on Saturday.

    Widespread violence broke out in Howrah district on Friday over inflammatory comments by now-suspended BJP functionaries Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal.

    Fresh violence was reported in Panchla Bazaar area in West Bengal’s Howrah district on Saturday as protesters clashed with the police and several houses were set on fire, a senior officer said. Protesters pelted policemen with stones, injuring some of them, and also vandalised a BJP party office.

    Several fire tenders were pressed into service as police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse protesters, the officer said, adding the situation was “under control” at the moment.

    “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 said.

    The West Bengal government on Saturday also suspended internet services in parts of Murshidabad district till June 14 to stop the spread of misinformation following violence in Howrah, where such a clampdown is already in force.

    ALSO READ | Bengal violence: Mamata government reshuffles cops in Howrah; internet suspended in parts of Murshidabad

    This followed the arrest of a college girl in Murshidabad district’s Beldanga as well as violent protests and arson in the area.

    The girl was arrested for allegedly putting up a post on her social networking site supporting the views of the now suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Mohammed, police said.

    Protesters demanding her arrest, clashed with Police and attacked the girl’s house as well as several others in the area.

    Internet services have been suspended in Beldanga 1 block covering Beldanga Police Station area and Beldanga 2 block covering Rejinagar and Shaktipur Police Station areas till 6 AM on June 14, an order stated.

    Internet services have already been suspended in the entire Howrah district till June 13 and Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in several areas such as Uluberia, Domjur and Panchla till June 15.

    Incidents of violence and protests were reported from South 24 Parganas district’s Kulpi. Protesters attacked MLA Jogaranjan Halder’s vehicle near Amtala, police said.

    Banerjee in a tweet on Saturday claimed that some political parties were behind the violent incidents that rocked Howrah district and promised to take strict action against those attempting to instigate riots in the state.

    She also questioned why common people should suffer on account of a “sin” committed by the BJP, in reference to controversial remarks by suspended and expelled saffron party leaders on Prophet Mohammad which triggered the violent protests.

    “As I have said before, normal life has been affected by violent incidents in Howrah over the last two days. Some political parties are behind this, they want to instigate riots. But this won’t be tolerated and strict action will be taken against those involved. Why should common people suffer because of sin committed by BJP,” Banerjee tweeted in Bengali.

    Following the violence, the state government replaced the Superintendent of Police of Rural Howrah, and the Commissioner of Police of Howrah City.

    Praveen Tripathi, Additional CP of Kolkata Police, was made the new Commissioner of Police of Howrah City.

    ALSO READ | Prophet remarks row: Jharkhand CM orders high-level probe into Ranchi violence

    Swathi Bhangalia, DCP (South West) of Kolkata Police, was made the new SP of Rural Howrah.

    The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) Saturday sent a show-cause notice Md Sanaullah Siddiqui, the Pirzada of Furfura Sharif, as it took suo motu cognisance of the videos on Facebook showing children participating in protests at Domjur in Howrah district where agitators pelted stones, set police vehicles on fire, damaged public property and clashed with police on Friday.

    In its notice, the commission expressed concern over the issue and condemned placing children at risk and directed the superintendents of police of Howrah rural and Barasat police districts, Howrah police commissioner and district magistrates of Howrah and North 24 Parganas to enquire and take appropriate action against those involved in using children for demonstrations.

    The protests kept the state’s political cauldron on the boil as West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar and his supporters were arrested while trying to visit the violence-hit Howrah district where several saffron party offices were attacked, as the district was under prohibitory orders and gatherings of 5 or more people was banned there.

    Majumdar and his companions were however later released.

    Reacting to the violence West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday expressed concern over the “worsening law and order” situation in the state and asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to deal sternly with lawbreakers.

    BJP MP from West Bengal, Saumitra Khan, also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, demanding immediate deployment of central forces in violence-hit Howrah.

    Reacting to the developments, TMC chief spokesperson Sukhendu Sekhar Ray however accused the Governor and the BJP leaders of making provocative statements on the issue.

    “The Governor and the BJP leaders are making provocative statements. They are fanning violence,” he said, wondering why Nupur Sharma had not been arrested as yet.

  • Maharashtra CM should have resigned after BJP won three RS seats: Athawale

    “BJP has given a severe jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi. It is such a jolt that Thackeray has no right to remain in power. When they have lost, they should have resigned on their own,” he said.