Communal tension continues in Bengal’s Mothabari, 57 arrested
Kolkata: Tension continued in Mothabari in West Bengal’s Malda district, where communal attacks took place last week. The state police have claimed to have made 57 arrests in this connection so far.
While the state police continued to make claims, even at the Calcutta High Court, that the situation in Mothabari was more or less under control, the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, refuted the claims.
According to him, if the situation had been under control, there would not have been restrictions on the entry of opposition party leaders and media personnel to troubled spots by placing barricades far away from the hotspots of tension.
Adhikari wrote a letter to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose last week and requested him to direct the state government to deploy Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) at Mothabari till the situation comes under control.
Meanwhile, amid the continuing tension, the BJP’s state president in West Bengal and the Union Minister of State, Sukanta Majumdar, is scheduled to visit Mothabari in the day and speak to the members of the affected Hindu families.
Already, a huge police contingent has been deployed around the tension hotspots and barricades have been raised, probably to prevent Majumdar and his associates from going to the troubled zone.
District police officers said the security arrangements have been made to prevent fresh igniting of tension in the areas.
Meanwhile, the BJP leadership in West Bengal has started preparations to approach the Calcutta High Court this week, seeking a National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation into the matter.
A division bench of Calcutta High Court has already sought reports from the Malda district magistrate and district police superintendent on how the tension flared up at Mothabari. The deadline for submission of those reports to the Calcutta High Court is April 3.
On Saturday evening, two officers of the West Bengal Police issued a caution of possible attempts to disturb the peace in the state targeting the forthcoming auspicious occasion of Ram Navami.
Additional Director General (south Bengal) Supratim Sarkar claimed that the police have got specific intelligence inputs on some vested interests trying to instigate violence in the coming days.
“There are plans to instigate people through different posters or posts. The police are on alert. There might be attempts to instigate tension among people from different communities, especially focusing on the occasion of Ram Navami. We requested people not to get instigated. There is no need to worry. But at the same time we also request people to be alert and inform the local police in case they notice any suspicious activities in their respective areas,” said Sarkar.
