By PTI
KOLKATA: The situation in areas of West Bengal which witnessed arson during protests against controversial remarks by suspended BJP leaders on Prophet Mohammad remained peaceful on Tuesday as heavy police deployment to control any untoward situation continued, police said.
More than 240 people have been arrested and over 42 cases registered in connection with the violence since June 9, the police said.
“The situation in West Bengal is peaceful and normal. There is no information of any untoward incident till 6 PM. We are continuing with the deployment of a good number of policemen in the violence-hit areas. Senior officers are there in the districts,” ADG (Law and Order) Javed Shamim told PTI.
Raids and patrolling by policemen were conducted in the violence-hit areas and a few arrests were made on Monday night.
FIRs have been registered in Howrah, Murshidabad, Nadia and North and South 24 Parganas districts which witnessed violence since Thursday, he said.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 will remain in place in Howrah district, Beldanga in Murshidabad and Bethuadahari in Nadia till June 15, he said.
“Intensive search operations for the culprits are on. They will be booked under stricter IPC sections depending on the evidence we have collected from different places,” Shamim said.
Internet services have resumed in Howrah from Monday but will remian suspended in Beldanga till June 15, he said.
The decision on resumption of the services in Bethuadahari will be taken after reviewing the situation there, a senior official of the state home department said.
Meanwhile, RPF and GRP have been deployed at various railway stations of the state to avoid any untoward incidents and disruption of train services.
Kolkata Police made elaborate security arrangements during the day for a programme by the minority community in Esplanade area of the city which passed of peacefully.
“There was no incident at the programme. We had to divert the traffic,” a police officer said.
The state government on Monday issued an advisory for all multiple-system operators (MSOs) and cable operators in the state to refrain from transmitting any sensitive content violative of Cable Television Network Act, 1995.
Reacting to the advisory, the opposition BJP alleged that the TMC government is “trying to gag the media and hide the truth”.
“What do fascist governments do when they want to hide their incompetence or premeditated acts of omission? They target the media and clamp down on coverage that exposes them. Mamata Banerjee’s administration has done just that – issued a draconian diktat warning the media of consequences,” BJP co-incharge of Bengal Amit Malviya tweeted.
Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar alleged, “The state government failed to control the situation by allowing the violence and arson to take place to appease its vote bank politics. Now when the entire country is witnessing lawless situation, the state government is trying to stifle the voice of the media. This is a direct attack on press freedom,” he said.
The TMC in its turn dubbed the allegations as “baseless”.
“The TMC government believes in the freedom of the press. BJP leaders should be the last to lecture us on press freedom. The state government has taken all steps to contain the violence,” senior TMC leader Tapas Ray said.
Meanwhile, Jagannath Sarkar, BJP MP from Ranaghat in Nadia district wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar requesting their “intervention” to control the violent situation in the state and apprehended that the situation might turn worse in the days to come.
