A team of police officers along with Rapid Action Force personnel has been deployed in Bhatpara
Violence flared up in Bengal again, in which two persons died and three were injured today. The location was Bhatpara, barely 30 km from Kolkata, which saw massive violence during the recent Lok Sabha election. It is not known what triggered the clash but locals said crude bombs were thrown and gunshots fired. The police used tear gas shells and fired blanks in the air. Six policemen were injured in the violence. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is already under Central pressure to maintain law and order in the state, has imposed prohibitory orders in the area that ban large gatherings. The BJP blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress for the violence and said they will send a report to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
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One of the two persons killed was Rambabu Shaw, a 17-year-old who sold pani puri (fuchka). Another person died of injuries in hospital. Three others who were injured are critical, doctors said.
After an emergency meeting at the secretariat, a team of police officers along with Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed in the area. Shops, market places and business establishments shut down following the unrest.
"The Trinamool goons and the police are behind the violence in Barrackpore," the BJP's Arjun Singh, who represents the area in parliament, told NDTV. Bhatpara is part of the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat.
"A delegation of BJP lawmakers will go to Barrackpore and submit a report on violence in Bengal to the Home Minister," senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya told NDTV.
Bhatpara has witnessed a series of clashes since May 19, when by-election was held in the assembly constituency. Today, Barrackpore Police Commissioner Tanmay Ray Chaudhuri was replaced by Darjeeling range Inspector General Manoj Verma.
The clash broke out this morning hours before the Bengal police chief was to inaugurate a new building for the local police station. The convoy of the Director General of Police had to go back to Kolkata midway and the inauguration of the new police station was put on hold.
Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress is locked in a turf war with the BJP, has been witnessing a series of clashes since the run up to the election. Clashes -- big and small -- took place on each of seven-phase election and have continued after.
Last week, Kolkata witnessed an unprecedented pitched battle as BJP workers, protesting the death of two of their colleagues, tried to march to the police headquartes in Lalbazar.The police used batons, tear gas and water cannons to stop them.
Amid a buzz about Constitution's Article 356 --- under which President's Rule can be imposed in a state -- Bengal Governor Kesri Nath Tripathi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah earlier this month.
The Trinamool Congress had played down the violence and Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the state. The BJP had won a chunk of Bengal's 42 Lok Sabha seats in the recent national elections. From just two seats in 2014, it won 18. The Trinamool, which won 34 seats in 2014, was reduced to 22 seats.
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