Two policemen were injured after a mob targeted police personnel who were trying to enforce social distancing in Howrah, near Kolkata. A huge police team has been sent to the area to restore order.
The attack took place at Tikiapara as the policemen were trying to disperse crowds at a roadside market that had suddenly mushroomed.
The angry crowd then threw stones at the police and chased them. The police had to flee for shelter into the Tikiapara police outpost. But the mob stoned the police outpost too. At least two police vehicles were ransacked.
Howrah is a hotspot district for COVID-19, where 79 of the state’s 697 cases were reported.
Another incident of a skirmish between police and a motorcycle borne youth was reported from Behala, in the the southern part of Kolkata. The motorcyclist reportedly tried to assault the police. He was arrested.
Rajeev Banerjee, the minister in the Mamata Banerjee’s government, who represents Howrah in the state assembly, said the incident was most unfortunate and they would be looking into what triggered the mob violence.
BJP’s Rahul Sinha said this was yet another example of the Mamta Banerjee
government’s failure to enforce the lockdown.
Bengal is already under the scanner of the Union home ministry for violation and dilution of the lock down. Two Central teams are going to locations in hotspot districts, including Howrah, to examine how strongly the lockdown is being enforced.
