Dhupguri (West Bengal): Tension ensued in Dhupguri in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district over reports of miscreants allegedly vandalising a temple on Saturday.
Residents have been protesting and blocking roads since this morning demanding arrest of the culprits. A large police force have been deployed at the spot. Locals even protested in front of police when the latter came to pacify them. Tyres were burnt by blocking roads in different areas of Dhupguri block in protest.
It is alleged that the Superintendent of Police was also prevented from visiting the spot. With the protests spilling to the national highway, communication with North East India has been severed. Police have launched a probe to identify the culprits behind the incident.
Alok Pal, a local resident of Dhupguri Khalai village, said miscreants vandalised a temple on Saturday morning and since then roads have been blocked demanding their immediate arrest.
District Superintendent of Police Khandabahale Umesh Ganpat reached Dhupguri along with a large contingent of force. After which, residents started staging protests in front of him.
On information that tyres were being burnt on National Highway 31 at Dhupaguri traffic junction, the SP came to lift the blockade. He however was stopped by the angry crowd.
SP Khandabahale Umesh Ganpat expressed his grief over the incident saying, "What happened was not good. So I came to the spot The incident is being investigated. It is not right to block the road and cause problems for the common people."
However, the agitators did not lift the blockade and said that they stopped the SP's car when it was on way to the incident spot.
Meanwhile the railway routes also witnessed several blockades resulting in the cancellation of a few trains. The agitators sat down on the railway tracks in many places, thereby disrupting the Delhi-bound Sampark Kranti Express and the Teesta-Torsha Express to Sealdah. A goods train was also stranded at at Khaligram Station.
Read more
