Violence rocked pockets of Bengal on Ram Navami leaving one person dead and a host of people, including IPS officer, five policemen and a number of civilians, injured when members of a particular community attacked the religious procession on Sunday, police said on Monday.
One person was killed in a clash at Arsa village in Purulia district when two communities clashed and a fight ensued after police intervened.
Sources said Deputy Commissioner of Police (headquarters) Arindam Dutta Chwodhury received severe injuries when he was attacked with bombs by members of a particular community at coal town of Raniganj, while he was trying to take precautionary steps to prevent clashes between two communities over a Ram Navami procession.
After being hit by a bomb, the officer had to be immediately shifted to a private hospital at Durgapur where doctors said, “he has suffered multiple bone fractures, and his soft tissues and muscles have been badly damaged and nothing can be said till he is operated upon.”
“There are reports of shops being looted and vehicles, including those belonging to the police, set afire,” sources said, adding sounds of bomb blasts and gunshots were being intermittently heard till late in the evening.
local MP Babul Supriyo, who rushed to Raniganj, said he would try to find out the culprits, adding “this is a sad incident and shouldn’t have taken place.”
In a separate incident police resorted to heavy lath-charge at Kandi town in Murshidabad district when hundreds of people taking part in a Ram Navami procession entered a local police station after they were stopped from moving with arms. A boy was injured in the skirmish.
Meanwhile, following orders from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee police filed FIRs under non-bailable sections against a number of people, including BJP leader and cinema personality locket Chatterjee who was leading a procession with a trident in her hand.