Police officer Debojit Chatterjee fractured his hand after an attack by protesters yesterday.
Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress has countered the BJP allegations about the police using "disproportionate" force to control protesters in Kolkata yesterday, saying the police have shown enormous restraint in face of massive provocation. Abhishek Banerjee, senior party leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew, took it up a notch today, saying if he was in the shoes of the police, "I would have shot them here, in the head".
Mr Banerjee had met one of the policemen injured during yesterday's clashes.
Recounting the meeting, he told reporters: "I told Debojit babu, 'I salute you that you haven't done anything. If I was in your place and if police cars were being set on fire and policemen were attacked in front of me, I would have shot them here, in the head. The restraint, patience and sensitivity you have shown, I salute officers like you'. Because such officers are in the force, Kolkata is the safest city today. The friends of BJP and CPM should know this."
Debojit Chatterjee, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, fractured his hand after a violent attack by flag-waving protesters yesterday.
Videos of the attack, which was circulated widely online, showed the men beating him with long bamboo poles as the officer tried to escape. The attack grew even more fierce as he found his way barred by a barricade. For a long minute, he disappeared under a flurry of bodies raining blows. He was finally rescued by some people, who appeared to be locals.
Yesterday, senior Trinamool leader Sougata Roy said the state police have shown "tremendous restraint" in face of "extreme provocation".
"The BJP workers have thrown stones and bricks at random. They have injured several policemen including IPS officers. They have broken cars in Burrabazar area... Very few BJP people have been injured. In every tv screen you can see BJP workers throwing stones," he said, alleging that the intention of the BJP was to provoke the police into opening fire.
The police, he added, have not fired on anybody. "Have the police fired even one round today?" he said, pointing to the time when 13 workers of Trinamool Congress were killed by police firing in 1993.
Parts of Kolkata and Howrah had turned into war zone yesterday as the BJP workers clashed with the police during their march to the state secretariat "Nabanna".
Visuals from the city showed pitched battles, with flag waving BJP supporters taking on the police with stones and bamboo poles. A police car was set on fire. The police tried to control the mob with batons, water cannons and tear gas. Injured protesters were seen lying on the road. Several policemen, including one IPS officer, also sustained injuries.
The BJP has alleged the use of "disproportionate force" by the police with a mandate from the state government.
Union Minister Subhas Sarkar accused the Bengal police of throwing stones at the crowd. "The police provoked the men to attack. The police provoked a peaceful demonstration. The common people came. They were angry," he had told NDTV.