12-hour bandh in Bengal as scuffle between cops, BJP workers in protest

Kolkata: The BJP activists on Monday put up road blockades and squatted on railway tracks at multiple places in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas as part of the 12- hour bandh called by the party in protest against alleged attacks on its leaders, police said. Shops and other business establishments chose to remain closed during the day, causing inconvenience to many.

A fresh scuffle reportedly broke out between the police and the saffron party workers at Lakuthi area and Barackpore-Barasat Road, when protesters tried to break police barricades and move forward.

According to a senior officer at Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, a few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and policemen were injured in the melee. Local sources said Naihati-Chinsurah ferry services were also affected in the district as the agitators demonstrated at the jetties.

The BJP on Sunday called for a 12-hour bandh call in Barrackpore constituency in the wake of alleged attacks on its party leaders, including MP Arjun Singh.

Singh has claimed Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Verma struck him, causing a gash on his head, while he along with his party members were holding a "peaceful protest" at Kankinara in the district over alleged "capture" of a party office by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) activists. In the northern fringes of Kolkata, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh was reportedly heckled by the ruling party supporters on Friday.

On the same day, Bongaon North MLA Biswajit Das, who recently switched to the saffron party from the TMC, was also allegedly assaulted by miscreants, while he was on his way to the Assembly.

Meanwhile, Governor Jagdeep Dhankar on Monday paid a visit to the Barrackpore MP, who is recuperating at a private hospital, and expressed concern over the law and order situation in the state. "I was in Delhi, I cut my visit short to visit Arjun Singh this morning as there had been a serious incident. I am worried at the moment," Dhankar said.