Kolkata police bring out fibreglass shield to guard against 'dim-ocracy'

KOLKATA: Cops in Kolkata were forced to bring out fibreglass shields, bought as part of riot-control gear, and helmets on Sunday to protect an arrested Trinamool Congress councillor from Bengal's newfound "dim-ocracy".

"Dim", or eggs, have become the newest form of protest in Bengal as mobs - their ranks often filled with political opponents - have targeted Trinamool councillors and functionaries, who are being arrested on charges ranging from extortion to corruption.

Eight Trinamool councillors of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and five more from the neighbouring Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (comprising Salt Lake and other areas) are behind bars, with numerous other councillors, functionaries, ex-MLAs and their kin - all from Trinamool - keeping them company.

Crowds, often filled with political opponents, waylaid Trinamool men either at police stations or outside courts and targeted them with eggs and other missiles. Cops escorting the accused, too, have experienced the aftertaste - and smell - which, perhaps, explains the emergence of the fibreglass shields.

The first to get the riot-control shield was the Trinamool councillor from ward 101 in Kolkata, Bappaditya Dasgupta, who was arrested late on Saturday. Cops in full riot gear, and holding the shields, lined up outside Patuli police station while Dasgupta was being escorted to a vehicle. Officers said the large crowd outside the police station prompted the cops to don the riot gear.