INDIA. West Bengal: Leading BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari along with BJP MP Locket Chatterjee and Rahul Sinha is booked under custody, ahead marching to state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ in Kolkata.
They were detained in front of the police training school, before reaching the Second Hooghly Bridge near the secretariat. In an act of violence, a Police car is set ablaze by protesters. The Kolkata police used tear gas and water cannons near the Howrah bridge to a standstill the situation under control.
Rahul Sinha accused the Mamata Banerjee government of trying to forcibly stop the “democratic protest” by his party. The saffron party held a protest against the Mamata-led government, opposing all the corruption activities taking place in West Bengal, during TMC rule.
Dilip Biswas, a BJP supporter said, “I never realised the protest march would turn into such a fierce combat… The police were relentless, while those in the crowd beside me were equally violent,” added saying, “I don’t know who started throwing stones at the police, but after two officers went down like ninepins, they started firing water cannons, burst tear gas shells and lathicharged us.”
Many protesters were put into Raniganj custody, and a huge number of BJP supporters from across West Bengal arrived in Kolkata and neighbouring Howrah, to be a part of the movement.
Meanwhile, Adhikari during the arrest said, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has “turned West Bengal into North Korea”. He further added, “Chief Minister Mamata does not have the support of her people and so she is enforcing dictatorship, similar to North Korea, in Bengal. The police will have to pay for what it is doing. The BJP is coming,” said the saffron party head.
The BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, while protesting in North Kolkata said, “The TMC government is scared of a public uprising. Even if they try to stop our protest march, we will resist peacefully. The state administration will be responsible for any untoward development.”
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