Kolkata’s Park Circus reportedly witnessed a police lathi-charge on Sunday after a mob pelted stones at them during a protest against demolitions and restrictions on public prayers.
According to reports, the area, dominated by minority communities, was on the verge of widespread protests after the government demolished several alleged illegal constructions. During Sunday's protest against restrictions on prayers on public roads and the said demolitions, traffic in the region took a hit, forcing the police to intervene. The protestors reportedly maintain that the newly-elected BJP government was purposefully taking steps to curtail the rights of minority communities.
When police and CRPF personnel reached Park Circus’s seven-point junction and tried to disperse the crowd, things turned ugly, The Indian Express said in a report. As police tried to disperse, what they described as an "unlawful assembly", a section of protesters allegedly resorted to violence, triggering chaos. Pushing and shoving soon made way for a scuffle and stone-pelting, severely damaging a CRPF vehicle. It was then that the police resorted to a lathi-charge, the daily said.
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Several vehicles parked along the roadside were also vandalised by the mob, reports said.
A heavy deployment of Kolkata Police and central forces was made in the area after the clashes. Route marches and intensified patrolling were undertaken in adjoining localities to prevent further escalation and restore normalcy.
Kolkata Police Additional Commissioner Ashesh Biswas said action has already been initiated against those involved in the violence.
