A day after hundreds of Left Front supporters were injured in lathi-charge during a protest march to the Kolkata Police Headquarters, police on Friday justified its action saying that “minimum force” was used to keep the situation under control.
“The reason behind lathi-charge was the stone pelting by those who assembled there. They tried to beat the police personnel with flag poles,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Rajiv Mishra told journalists. Speaking in a similar vein Special Additional and Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Supratim Sarkar accused the Left Front workers of trying to jeopardise law and order in a “planed manner.”
On Thursday, thousands of Left Front supporters tried to march towards the Kolkata Police Headquarters at Lalbazar from three different directions: Ganesh Chandra Avenue, Bentinck Street and B Ganguly Street. After they tried to break the barricades, police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse them and in the process many protesters, including (CPI-M) Central Committee member Dipak Dasgupta were injured.
The officers alleged that the agitators not only made provocative comments but also assaulted the police and threw eggs at them. They said that despite repeated warnings not to breach the police barricade, the protesters constantly provoked the police personnel.
“At any moment there could have been a serious law and order situatione,” said Mr. Sarkar. The officials alleged that at Firce Lane, near Lalabazar, the Left Front supporters broke a concrete slab to pieces and hurled them at the police.
Asked why the police beat up protesters who ran away from the spot and took shelters in nearby alleys, Mr. Mishra only said: “Our main aim was to impose Section 144 in the area and we took the necessary legal steps to do it.” In CCTV footage, however, policemen were seen beating protesters, who had already dispersed from the venue.
The police have slapped cases against many Left Front workers under several sections of the IPC including the non-baileable Section 307 of the IPC for attempt to murder.
Condemning the lathi charge on Left Front workers, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, said: “The TMC is trying to muzzle the voice of the Opposition by resorting to such brutalities. Such actions by the ruling party will increase as they get more detached from the masses.”
