The West Bengal Police on Monday imposed section 144 in the Ekbalpur area of the state for two days.
The two-day curfew (from October 10 to October 12), has been imposed amid the ongoing law and order situation in the region due to the violence that erupted in Mominpur and the ransacking of Ekbalpur police station on Sunday evening.
Advertisement
Earlier in the day, West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah and Governor La Ganesan demanding an urgent deployment of central forces in the region.
“The Hindu community has come under attack in Khidirpore Mominpur area of Kolkata on the eve of Lakshmi Puja,” Adhikari, also the leader of the opposition, said in the letter.
He said many shops and bikes belonging to Hindus were vandalised by hooligans and anti-social elements in the violence. “The onslaught has similarities to the Panchla violence which happened in June in the Uluberia area of Howrah district. At that time, the violence spread across West Bengal, especially in Nadia and Murshidabad districts,” Adhikari wrote.
He further hit out at the Mamata Banerjee-led government in Bengal, Adhikari said the government had “meekly surrendered” before those indulging in violence. He also claimed that some miscreants had taken over the Ekbalpur police station.
The tensions flared up in Mominpur on Sunday after religious flags put up in the area for the Milad-un-Nabi festival were allegedly torn up, which soon turned violent with the vandalization of several vehicles and shops.
Reports said a group of people later in the night surrounded the Ekbalpore police station in protest against the violence and demanding the arrest of the accused. Some police personnel have been reportedly injured. Security has been tightened in the area since then.