Kolkata: 2nd clash in 20 days rocks Dover Terrace

KOLKATA: Almost 20 days after the slums of Dover Terrace in Gariahat had witnessed a violent clash, another was reported from the same area on Sunday afternoon.

Two groups of slum dwellers — aligned to separate local clubs — terrorised the upscale Dover Terrace area for more than 40 minutes from 4pm. The fight, yet again, was over a trivial issue. A youth who had gone to Jadavpur with friends and returned drunk was creating nuisance outside the slum. When locals protested, the youth hurled obscenities and fled towards the left part of the slum. The incident triggered a clash with around 30-35 people coming face to face. The women came armed with kitchen equipment, the men with sticks and stones. As the stone pelting increased, Gariahat police stepped in. Cops from Lalbazar, too, had to rush in to stop the fracas from spiraling.

In all, five persons were injured, two of them hit by stones pelted from both sides. The cops — diverted from the firefighting operations at Gariahat crossing — faced stiff resistance from the women, but managed to arrest 13 people, bringing the clash to an end.

According to locals, the clashes involved boys from the Young Fighter Club and the Dover Youth Corner Club. Both sides had an old rivalry dating back to over two decades. The cops said the clubs had another fallout during a football match last December over an alleged foul and, since then, have been involved in repeated clashes. “Both sides were nursing grudges,” claimed Debasish Ghosh, a local.

Cops said a suo motu case has been initiated and a police picket set up in the area. “We are monitoring the situation,” said an officer.

With the rioting at a Ballygunge complex fresh in their minds — where slum dwellers smashed 76 vehicles parked inside an apartment complex after an accident killed one person two years ago — the area residents said they hoped cops will carry out quick arrests.

“It has happened in the near past and can happen any time again,” claimed an officer who has served at the Gariahat police station for over five years.

On the intervening night of December 21-22 last year, violent clashes occurred at slums near Dover Terrace. Several people were injured. The cause was the outcome of a local football match. Even then, the police had a difficult time curbing the violence due to the location of the slums. After Sunday’s incident, residents of the area expressed concern at the rising cases of violence in the neighbourhood that used to be peaceful even a few years ago.