Territorial Army man held for ISF clash with Kolkata cops

KOLKATA: A 35-year-old working in the Territorial Army’s engineering regiment has been arrested on Tuesday after video grabs showed him brandishing a firearm during the Indian Secular Front (ISF) rally on Saturday. Posted in Vadodara, he is now on leave.
Police on Tuesday also cited “security issues” to deny permission to the ISF protest rally from Sealdah to Esplanade at 1pm on Wednesday. ISF sources said the rally would be held as per schedule.
“The accused — Syed Alamgir Hossain (35) — originally hailing from Muniakandra in Burdwan, was presently staying at Eroali village in Murshidabad from where he was arrested at 3.10 am,” said joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma. Hossain is a Havildar at the 811 Engineering Regiment and is on leave from January 20 to March 20.
On Saturday, Hossain was seen standing next to ISF leader and Bhangar MLA Naushad Siddique. Even as Siddique described the person as his “bodyguard”, he retracted from his statement later. Siddique, along with other ISF functionaries and workers, are in cop custody till February 1.
The ISF has called a protest rally at 1pm from Sealdah on Wednesday. The rally is expected to reach Esplanade. According to sources, state chief secretary HK Dwivedi on Tuesday convened a meeting. Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal was also present.
The rally was decided at a meeting of ISF office bearers at Furfura Sharif on Monday. ISF leaders expressed concern over the “arrest of Bhangar MLA without intimating the Speaker of the Assembly”. Speaker Biman Banerjee, though, said as per process he has been formally intimated within 24 hours of the arrest.
An ISF team may also submit a memorandum to Governor CV Ananda Bose at Raj Bhavan against “police excesses” and “TMC torture” in Bhangar. A PIL has also been filed in the HC against the police going “hyperactive” against ISF supporters.
“The police are playing partisan,” said CPM’s Sujan Chakraborty. BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya held that Siddique was a “good person”. Trinamool general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “ISF supporters held the heart of the city to ransom for over an hour on the instigations of CPM and BJP.”
(Inputs from Falguni Banerjee & Monotosh Chakraborty)