KOLKATA: Internet service and mobile data have been suspended and section 144 has been imposed at Telenipara and its adjoining areas in Hooghly district following a clash between two communities that have been going on for the past three days. The decision of the snapping of internet services was taken in the wake of fake news and video clippings being uploaded and circulated on social media platforms.
Sporadic clashes between the two factions of the local residents, mostly workers of jute mills in the area which once used to be operational, took place. Bombs were hurled, several houses were ransacked and roadside stalls were torched.
Police conducted overnight raids in the area and arrested 57 persons for their involvement in the violence.
Police faced strong resistance when they tried to enter the violence-hit area. "On Tuesday, petrol was sprinkled on the roads leading to the area and gas cylinders were kept on the roads. Unruly mob attacked us with stones. Two police vehicles were damaged," said an officer of Chandernagore police commissionerate.
Trouble broke out on Sunday night after members of one community were allegedly held responsible for spreading the coronavirus by some local residents who belonged to the other community. "Barricades were put up by the other community on all the roads leading to a particular pocket of the area. The situation worsened when political leaders arrived there and tried to help the locals according to their preferences. A clash broke out when the members of a community tried to break the barricades and come out of the particular pocket," said the police officer.
BJP MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee tried to visit the trouble-torn area on Wednesday but police did not allow her. She went to the district magistrate’s office. "I waited for over two hours to meet the district magistrate but I was told he was busy. The commissioner of police is not taking my calls," she alleged.
Trinamool MP Kalyan Bandopadhyay accused Chatterjee of aggravating the situation.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee warned of stern action against those who are allegedly instigating the violence saying those indulged in the communal clashes would be prosecuted under the National Disaster Act, 2005. "None will be spared. We will not see whether the person belongs to A community or B community," she said.