West Bengal violence: Home Ministry seeks report

New Delhi: The Union home ministry on Tuesday sought a report from the Mamata Banerjee government on the violence during Rama Navami in Howrah, Hooghly and nearby areas.

Sources said the home ministry has sought a detailed report from the state government over the violence that broke out between two groups when a Rama Navami procession was taken out in Howrah last week. A top official said the state government has been asked to submit a report as soon as possible.

The Centre’s move came days after home minister Amit Shah spoke to state Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and took stock of the situation, particularly in violence-hit areas of Howrah and Hooghly.

Several vehicles were torched, and shops were ransacked in Hooghly and Howrah districts. Over 30 people were arrested over the violence in Howrah.

Besides the clashes between two groups, instances of fire-bombing were reported from towns in the industrial belt of Hooghly and Howrah districts over the last few days, including Monday night.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP of organising the violence and asserted that she would not let any rioter go scot-free and warned that strict action would be taken against “dangebaaz” (rioters).

“The BJP is behind the violence in Hooghly and Howrah. They had brought in hired ‘goondas’ from other states to unleash violence in Bengal, which is not in our culture. They are defaming the Hindu religion by pitting one community against another. But rioters have no religion, they are just political goons. I appeal to everyone to maintain calm,” she said.

Governor Ananda Bose, who had gone to a visit to Darjeeling in North Bengal for a G-20 meeting, rushed to Hawrah to visit the violence-hit areas on Tuesday.

State BJP leaders Sukanta Majumdar and Suvendu Adhikari  have demanded that Central forces be deployed in violence-hit areas with Article 355 of the Constitution being invoked.

Countering the BJP allegation, Mamata Banerjee said the people in West Bengal did not take part in the violence, and the BJP had started bringing in people from outside the state to incite violence.

“The Bengal government is making all efforts to restore the livelihood of those affected by the violence. We had recently passed a law where losses suffered during organised protests would be compensated by attaching and auctioning off the alleged vandals’ properties,” she said.

Meanwhile, the state police has arrested a man from Bihar’s Munger for allegedly carrying a gun during a Rama Navami procession in Howrah district last week, a senior officer said on Tuesday.

According to reports, many local and long-distance trains were suspended after incidents of stone pelting at Rishra station on Monday evening. The situation in Rishra is now said to be under control and about 36 persons have been arrested in the recent violence case, the sources in the government said.

According to them, the police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel have been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident or violence.