A statue of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, freedom fighter and India’s first Union Education Minister, was allegedly demolished by right-wing activists during violence following the Ram Navami processions in West Bengal.
The incident took place in Kankinara in North 24-Parganas on Sunday where the violence has claimed at least one life. The man was seriously injured in the violence and later passed away, confirmed police on Monday.
Miscreants brought down the statue of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad near the market named after him, triggering violence, on Sunday afternoon.
The number of casualties after violence during the Ram Navami procession in West Bengal has increased to 3. While on Sunday, one person died in Purulia, and one in Kakinara, another individual passed away after clashes in Raniganj on Monday.
On Monday, members of saffron outfits clashed with the police in Murshidabad and Bardhaman West districts, resulting in a senior police officer losing his hand when a bomb was hurled at him.
One person was killed, and five police personnel were injured on Sunday in a clash between two groups in Purulia as sword-wielding BJP supporters defied the state government's ban on armed rallies on Ram Navami.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed the director general of police (DGP) to instruct all the superintendents of police (SPs) to take strong action against those who carried arms in the rallies.
"The law will take its own course. I will not tolerate this," she said at a meeting at Pailan, near here, adding that action would be taken against the police if they failed to take measures in this regard.
In the Kandi area of Murshidabad district, clashes broke out when the participants in a Ram Navami rally, allegedly armed with swords and tridents, tried to enter a police station, the police said.
At least 10 persons were injured when the members of the Ram Navami Utsav Committee came to blows with the police personnel during a procession in the area, a senior police officer said.
A police complaint has been lodged against West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Dilip Ghosh after he was seen carrying a sword on Ram Navami celebration on March 25 in Midnapore district. The complaint was lodged in Midnapore's Kharagpore police station.
Ghosh said it was an age-old Hindu tradition to conduct "astra puja" (worship of weapons) on the day of Ram Navami and that he was not aware of any ban on armed rallies.
"Where is the government order banning arms in Ram Navami processions? Where is the circular?" he asked.
Ghosh alleged that the TMC is scared after seeing ‘awakening’ of people and they are indulging in planting false cases.
Earlier on Monday, an FIR was registered against BJP leader Locket Chatterjee on charges of leading a rally while holding a 'Trishul' in Rampurhat.
(With PTI inputs)
