KOLKATA: The West Bengal government on Thursday said that the BJP's march to the state secretariat Nabanna was carried out without permission and it was held against permissible parameters of the Pandemic Act.
Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay praised the police for controlling the situation patiently despite instigations.
Asked about the blue coloured water sprayed on BJP workers from water cannons during the march, Bandopadhyay said it is the same colour that is used during the Holi festival.
"It is an international practice. Coloured water is used during such agitations so that people can be identified after dispersals," he said.
Around 89 people were detained in Kolkata and 24 in Howrah in connection with the agitation, the chief secretary said.
Parts of Kolkata and adjoining Howrah resembled a battle zone on Thursday as BJP workers and supporters clashed with police, hurling stones and blocking roads with burning tyres, to protest a string of killings of saffron party workers.
Police personnel in riot gear burst teargas shells, beat up the agitators and used water cannons to disperse those who took part in the protests that continued in the two cities for more than three hours.