BJP had no permit, workers attacked cops: Bengal report in court on Nabanna march violence

According to the state government report, the BJP had conducted the rally without permission from the authorities and that they provoked the police.

The Bengal government filed a report before the division bench of the Calcutta High Court on the violence during the BJP’s ‘Nabanna Obhijaan’, or march to Nabanna, last week. The court had asked the Bengal Home Secretary to file the report by today.

According to the state government report, the BJP had conducted the rally without permission from the authorities and that they provoked the police. CCTV footage, video footage from the sites and other media reports showed that the BJP leaders had flouted prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, resulting in violence in Howrah and Kolkata, the report said.

BJP workers attacked police personnel, damaged public property, including setting a police van on fire in which several police personnel got injured, it added.

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Despite having no permission for the rally, BJP workers gathered in huge numbers in Kolkata and neighbouring Howrah. The police then began taking measures to prevent the gathering from turning chaotic. Some bjp leaders acted violently towards police and public property, the report mentioned.

BJP workers brought stones with them and began the violence. After repeated warnings when they did not stop, the police used water cannons, the Bengal government has alleged in its report.

The court last week heard a plea filed by the BJP alleging that their karyakartas were barred from boarding buses and trains to reach the rally site and were forcibly prevented from participating in the march organized by the party’s Bengal unit.