A police station was set on fire in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on Tuesday to protest the death of a 17-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and her body found in a canal last week. Police said that 19 personnel were injured, and two were seriously injured in the incident, reported The Indian Express.
On Sunday, prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were clamped in parts of Kaliaganj, which was in place till Tuesday’s arson, ahead of the visit of a team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
Miscreants had set the Kaliaganj police station on fire and also set ablaze several vehicles including two-wheelers parked near the police station building, reducing them to ashes.
ADG (North Bengal) Ajay Kumar said people allegedly belonging to the Adivasi and Rajbangshi communities organised a “Thana gherao” programme on Tuesday afternoon protesting against alleged “police inaction” in the case. He called it a “planned attack”.
“The Rajbanshi SC-ST Coordination Committee took out a procession at 3.15 pm. About 350 people participated, with women leading it. To prevent any untoward incident, police stopped the procession at some points, following which a few people started pelting stones, targeting the personnel. Police showed restraint because women were at the front. But some miscreants came and entered our compound. They broke the boundary walls and a few vehicles that had been seized by the police were torched. They also set fire in a room where some documents were stored,” Kumar said.
“Police have taken all the action they could have after the April 21 incident (the girl’s death), but because of instigation by some with ulterior motives, common people are suffering. We will take strict action against anyone involved in this. Seventeen of our people are injured, two have been referred to Raiganj hospital. We have identified a few (from the mob) already, some have been detained. It was a planned attack,” he added.
The incident led to a political slugfest with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleging that the BJP is behind the incident.
TMC chief spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “It is unthinkable that a police station has been set on fire. BJP has been brainwashing and instigating people by sending their people from Delhi to give false and fabricated statements. It is BJP-sponsored violence,” he said.
The BJP hit back saying that the incident was a “spontaneous outburst” against police and state administration.
BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya hit back: “The kind of war that this government has started against backward classes, tribals, etc, today’s incident is the fallout of that. You cannot influence an angry mob. It is a spontaneous outburst against police and state administration. TMC leaders have been giving provocative statements one after another, maligning the victim’s family. Nobody promotes violence and arson but here it is out of people’s anger.”
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that there was complete law and order failure, reported PTI.
“I do not support attacks on police personnel. But I have come to know that the police had attacked the people who were peacefully carrying out their protests. This is the result of complete failure on the part of the law and order machinery. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is responsible for it,” Adhikari said.
Earlier, six people were arrested after a mob attacked them and set several shops and vehicles on fire in Kaliaganj following the recovery of the body of the girl on April 21.
On Monday, four police officers, all in the rank of Assistant Sub Inspectors, were suspended for allegedly dragging the body of the girl on the road while removing it from the spot where it was found, amid protests. The purported video of the incident was widely shared on social media.