Violence erupted in the Charu Market area of South Kolkata on Tuesday after people from two neighbourhoods clashed and resorted to stone-pelting, prompting the police to lathi-charge to disperse the warring groups.
The incident drew sharp comments from local Trinamool Congress MLA and Minister Sovandeb Chatterjee, who criticised the police for not taking adequate measures even though there was tension in the area since Monday night. Calls to the Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police (Headquarters) Supratim Sarkar went unanswered.
“The police have been repeatedly informed that the area near the local railway station has become a hub for anti-social activities. But they have not bothered to take any action,” said Mr. Chatterjee. He further alleged that “even though there was tension in the area since Monday night, the number of police personnel deployed there was grossly inadequate.”
Locals said that on Monday night a youth from one of the neighbourhoods got involved in a drunken brawl with people from the other neighbourhood. However, the situation was temporarily resolved.
But on Tuesday afternoon the situation flared up again and both sides resorted to large-scale stone-pelting in which a couple of police personnel were injured.
