Internet services to be suspended in Howarh

Internet services have been suspended till 6 am on Saturday in Howrah district in wake of protests on Friday and the current situation here.

Kolkata(West Bengal): Howrah (West Bengal): Internet services have been suspended for three days in several places in Howarh district following widespread protests against the controversial remark of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma regarding prophet Muhammad on Friday.

The protests erupted from Kona Expressway in Howrah and then it spilled over to several places like Salap, Domjur and several other places in the rural part of the district. The protests that started just after the weekly prayer continued till 9 pm in the evening before senior police officers of Howrah police and RAF brought the situation under control.

Taking to social media platform chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote on her official twitter handle, “Told is before even….Suspending normal life for two days some people are indulging violence in the area. There are some political parties behind this and they want riot. These things will not be tolerated. Strong action will be initiated. BJP sinned, People will suffer”.

Not only in Howrah but there were widespread protests in several parts of the city including Park Circus and its adjacent areas where police had to intervene to neutralise the protestors who were demanding the arrest of Sharma.

In a top level meeting at Bhawani Bhawan – the state police headquarters in Kolkata it was decided that internet service would be closed at several places in Howrah from Friday evening till 6 am on Monday. The decision was taken to stop circulation of any kind of fake videos that might incite violence. However, there was no embargo on phone or SMS.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar appealed to maintain peace and sought an urgent personal update from the Chief Secretary of the state over the deteriorating condition of the law and order situation in the state since Thursday. "Expect Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to sternly warn law violators- they will not be spared," Dhankar tweeted.