Bulldozer protest meet turns violent in Kolkata: 10 cops injured, 21 held

KOLKATA: Ten cops and CAPF men were injured, three of them seriously, at the Park Circus seven-point crossing when stones and bricks were hurled at them during a protest against “the bulldozer action in Tiljala” on Sunday afternoon.

Police said 21 persons were arrested and 25 detained. Flag marches and raids continued across Park Circus till late on Sunday.

A social media post calling for protest against the “bulldozer action in Tiljala” led to a huge gathering at the sevenpoint crossing at 1.30pm. Two buildings in Tiljala have been partially demolished on the grounds that they were constructed illegally. In one of the buildings, a fire broke out last Tuesday, resulting in the death of three persons.

Police said the gathering was unauthorised. Trouble erupted when the protesters tried to block roads.

The situation worsened when security forces attempted to disperse the crowd, with protesters hurling stones and bricks at the cops and vandalising police vehicles. At least three vehicles were damaged. Additional commissioner of police (south-east) Chitadeep Pandey, his guard, and Beniapukur PS officer-in-charge Rajesh Singh were critically injured. They were taken to hospital. Police resorted to lathicharge and the situation came under control after an hour.

Pieces of bricks lay strewn on the stretch between the seven-point crossing and Lady Brabourne College.

“Three hired police vehicles were damaged. During follow-up raids, our men — along with CAPF — were attacked. Roadblocks were set up so that we could not enter the lanes. We are not ruling out a conspiracy,” said a police officer.

A protester who refused to be identified said he reached the spot after seeing the social media post. “We were protesting peacefully when cops intervened. The situation suddenly turned violent and people ran to save themselves,” he said. The protester said his name was deleted from the voters’ list during the SIR.

“It was an illegal gathering. No permission was taken. We had intelligence and some presence on the ground, which prevented a flare-up. Police came under attack. We followed our SOP to remove the protesters. Efforts are on to identify the mastermind. We have intelligence on whether the accused are residents of the area. Strong action will follow,” said DCP (south-east) Saikat Ghosh.

Troublemakers came from outside: Park Circus locals
A resident of Kasai Para Lane in Park Circus said that locals used bikes and scooters to barricade the entry and exit points of their locality.
“We don’t have any trouble with cops. But the goons who gathered there during the protest should not have entered the residential area,” he said.

“The troublemakers came from Tiljala and Topsia. We haven’t seen them here before,” he added.

Malika Begum, who came out of her residence after hearing about the trouble, said, “There is a need for more representation from minority communities in the legislature. That will help every community foster ties and spread harmony,” she said.