Kolkata:
Fresh trouble erupted today at Nonadanga in Kolkata, with lathi-wielding policemen chasing away a large group of evicted slum dwellers from the area who tried to dismantle a barricade.
The police claimed they took action after slum dwellers attacked them with brickbats. The police said that 13 persons, including seven women, were arrested and taken to the police headquarters at Lalbazar.
The Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed in the area. The West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee had alleged yesterday that the Maoists and an NGO were behind the trouble at Nonandanga.
The incident comes three weeks after the protests at the same place against eviction of slum dwellers on April 8. Apart from the molecular scientist Partha Sarathi Roy, 67 others were also arrested for the incident. Debolina Chakraborty, a member of the Matangiri Hazra Samity, claimed by the police to be a front organisation of the Maoists, was also among those arrested by police for inciting the slum dwellers.
Miss Chakraborty is still in CID custody, while the scientist was released on bail on April 18.