Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sukanto Majumdar was detained on Wednesday enroute to violence hit Beldanga in Murshidabad district. Majumdar, also a junior Union Minister, was detained at Krishnagar about 80 km from Beldanga. While police denied reports of his arrest a senior police officer said that he had been prevented and detained from visiting Beldanga as "he was breaking law by defying the prohibitory orders and his visit to the area may spark fresh tensions."
Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (Section 144 of the repealed CrPC) had been clamped in the area and all the internet services had been suspended since Saturday-Sunday following reports of violence between two communities around a Kartik Puja procession.
At least 20 people were injured in the violence that led to stone pelting and torching of shops. Majumdar who squatted on the road along with his followers after being stopped by the police alleged that it was not him but the police that were breaking the laws. "They arrested us near Krishnagar which is 70 km away from where Section 163 (BNSS) has been clamped," he said writing on the X that "raising the voice of Hindus has become the biggest crime under Mamata Banerjee's rule in Bengal. My arrest today stands as proof of this. Mamata Banerjee's regime is ruthlessly tearing apart Bengal's social fabric. Tyranny will not silence us!"
The arrest came within hours of the Calcutta High Court directing the State Government to submit a report on the Beldanga riots. The Court has been deliberating on petitions seeking deployment of central forces in the area apart from an investigation conducted by the National Intelligence Agency.
The Court in its order said, "the alleged incident between the two rival religious communities erupted on the eve of Kartik Puja, where several persons were injured, the houses were set ablaze and the hate messages through social media as well as by way of display through neon sign board spreading profanity amongst the section of the society. Several posts uploaded on social media have corroborated such incident; some of which are annexed with the instant petitions."
The Court said that it would give appropriate directions after getting the reports from the Government. State Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari too had demanded a NIA investigation in the Beldanga incident. "I, for Bengal BJP, wrote to Bengal DG to allow one leader of the party to allow me to visit Beldanga in Murshidabad," Adhikari said, adding there were incidents of violence during Durga Pujas also and that the BJP MLAs had written to the Chief Secretary about the incidents and police inaction after that. Meanwhile, expressing concern at the Government's lackadaisical approach in providing information sought by his office on various issues including that related to Beldanga, Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose highlighting the provisions of Article 167 of the Constitution said how the Article required the Chief Minister to furnish details on administrative matters to the Governor.
He expressed his disappointment at not being supplied with reports despite having asked for them. Raj Bhavan sources had earlier said that the "Governor has sought an immediate action taken report from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the incident in Beldanga in Murshidabad district. He is very disturbed and expressed his anguish about the developments there," adding Bose might visit Beldanga if the situation warranted.
Clashes had erupted at Beldanga about 180 km from Kolkata late on Saturday night when some youth from a particular community assembled outside a Kartik Puja pandal and objected to some message that had popped up on the digital display board on the gate erected for the festival hurting their sentiments.
Soon a rival group assembled in the area and the two sides resorted to stone pelting. In the clashes several houses and shops were vandalized and torched and crude bombs were hurled. The police resorted to lathi charge after one of their vehicles was attacked by the angry mobs.
