Violence erupted in Kaliaganj town of West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on April 25 with locals protesting the death of a teenage girl, setting the police station on fire.
The locals, had during the day called for a siege of the Kaliaganj police station to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a 17-year-old Rajbanshi teenager. During the protest, the situation had turned violent and the locals attacked the police station. The mob broke barricades and pelted stones at the police station. A few miscreants also set on fire several motorbikes and a vehicle that was parked inside the police premises.
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Fire fighters brought the fire under control. The police also faced considerable challenges to disperse the protesters. They had to fire tear gas shells and resort to baton charge to disperse the protesters.
Kaliaganj has been on the boil for the past few days over the death of a teenage girl. The family members and locals have been alleging that the teenager was sexually assaulted and killed.
According to the West Bengal Police, the post-mortem said that the death was due to consumption of poison. What has irked the family members is the video of the body of the teenager being dragged by policemen. On April 24, four assistant sub-inspectors who were seen dragging the body of the girl, were suspended.
The death of the minor had also triggered a public spat between the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR). NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo had visited Kaliaganj and blamed police authorities for mishandling the situation.
The body of the 17-year-old girl was found floating in a canal in Kaliaganj on April 21. Alleging that she was raped and killed, locals had put up road blockades by burning tyres and setting several shops on fire. Since then, the situation has remained volatile and there have been occasional clashes between the locals and the police.
After the violence at the police station, the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party blamed each other for the situation. Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the situation had turned volatile because the BJP was trying to provoke the locals.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari condemned the attack on the police station. He blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the flare-up and violence at Kaliaganj.
