Prophet Muhammad remarks: Over 100 arrested, police brass replaced in Bengal's Howrah

HOWRAH/KOLKATA: Over 100 people were arrested across the state, the entire Howrah police top brass reshuffled and prohibitory orders imposed in Uluberia sub-division as the Bengal government tried to control pockets of unrest after two days of protests over controversial remarks made by ex-BJP functionaries on Prophet Muhammad.
After the internet and VoIP clampdown in Howrah till Monday morning, the state on Saturday extended it to parts of Mu-rshidabad's Beldanga, Rejinagar and Shaktipur police stations till Tuesday. Four cops were injured in protests in Murshidabad, officials said.
CM Mamata Banerjee once again questioned why people in Bengal should suffer for "BJP's sins". In a statement on Saturday, the CM said, "As I have said before, violent incidents have been taking place in Howrah for two days now. Some political parties, which want to cause riots, are beh-ind this. But these things will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken against all of those indulging in violence. Why should the common people suffer for BJP's sins?"
In Howrah, the district administration issued orders restricting the assembly of five or more people and banned carrying of lathis or any weapons along the Uluberia sub-division. This was enforced rigidly along NH-6 and railway stations, which bore the brunt of the protests for the past two days. The orders will remain effective till June 15.
After a high-level meeting, Howrah police commissioner C Sudhakar and Howrah (rural) police superintendent Saumya Roy were replaced on Saturday.
Cops use CCTV to nail trouble-makers
The Bengal government on Saturday replaced both the Howrah police commissioner and Howrah (rural) SP, after two days of violent protests in the district. Kolkata police additional commissioner Praveen Tripathi will take charge as Howrah police chief while DCP (South-West) Swathi Bhangalia will take over as Howrah (rural) SP. Both Sudhakar and Roy will join Kolkata Police.
In addition, 10 senior officers - including officers from CID and state Intelligence Branch - were asked to station themselves in Howrah.
As traffic along NH-6 and train movement along South Eastern Railway's Howrah-Kharagpur division normalised, an isolated incident in Panchla in the morning threatened to neutralise the efforts to normalise this stretch. Protesters who gathered at Panchla Bazar tried to force their way towards NH-6, prompting police combat forces and RAF to stop them. As the mob resorted to stone-pelting, the police responded by firing three rounds of tear gas shells. One of the tear gas shells exploded near the cops, injuring six of them. South Eastern Railways said they had to cancel four long-distance trains due to the overnight delays.
Police said the arrest figures will increase. "We have gone through hours of CCTV footage, mobile call dumps and video footage to carry out these arrests. They are all related to specific cases," an officer said. ADG (law and order) Jawed Shamim said efforts were on to try and arrest the trouble-mongers and restore normality.
Several tourists - especially from Kolkata - who were scheduled to return this weekend from popular destinations like Mandarmoni, Digha and Shankarpur stayed put at their hotels - some even extending their stay - hoping for the situation to improve.
"I drove my car as I am travelling with my year-old son. My friends were scheduled to join us both on Thursday and Friday. None turned up. Now, I have extended my stay at Mandarmoni for a day. I am hoping that after the CM's strong message, things will normalize on Sunday. As a safety measure, I have decided to leave for Kolkata very early in the morning," said Tirthankar Mukherjee, an IT executive from Behala.