New Delhi: BJP's West Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar was arrested on Saturday afternoon when he tried to visit violence-hit Howrah district, police said. Majumdar, the MP of Balurghat in Uttar Dinajpur, was arrested near the toll plaza on Vidyasagar Setu, they said. "Mr Majumdar was trying to travel to Howrah where prohibitory orders under CrPC 144 have been clamped. His visit could have created a law and order situation.
This is a preventive arrest," a senior police officer said. Violence rocked parts of Howrah on Friday following the inflammatory remarks of now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Mohammed. Earlier in the day, he was stopped by the police from visiting violence-affected areas in the Howrah district citing the current law and order situation.
Majumdar claimed police erected barricades outside his residence in New Town on the northeastern fringes of Kolkata as he was getting ready to leave for Howrah district. Protests erupted in several parts of Howrah district on Friday over controversial remarks by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled leader Naveen Kumar Jindal on Prophet Mohammad.
"I was scheduled to visit areas in Howrah district where our party offices were ransacked and burnt. As I was set to leave, police put up barricades outside my residence and stopped me from coming out of my house," Mr Majumdar told reporters at his residence. "I want to know under which rule I am being stopped from visiting Howrah," he said.
Senior TMC leader and MLA Tapas Ray alleged that the intention of his visit was to fan communal tension. "Police did the right thing by stopping him," he said. However, BJP national vice-president and Sukanta Majumdar's predecessor Dilip Ghosh managed to enter Howrah district and visit the areas where the party offices were attacked.
"I visited areas where our party offices were ransacked. The lawless situation here reflects the administration's failure," he said. Agitators resorted to stone-pelting, setting police vehicles on fire and damaging public property during violent protests and clashes with the law enforcers in the district.
Internet services have been suspended across the district till June 13 and prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC imposed in several areas such as Uluberia, Domjur and Panchla till June 15. Common people had to suffer as road and railway tracks were blocked by protesters in the district. Several local and express trains were cancelled due to the violence.
