‘Police permit needed for immersion’

KOLKATA: Durga Puja organisers will need police permission to immerse idols on Muharram that might be denied on law and order grounds, West Bengal government announced on Friday.

The government also decided to not challenge a Calcutta high court order, which put on hold a controversial order restricting idol immersion on October 1 (Muharram) and was widely seen as a setback for chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

State director general of police Surajit Kar Purakayastha said that local police sta- tions might deny permission for immersion to puja organisers if it felt that communal harmony would be disturbed.

State government sources told HT that puja organisers would have to submit applications to the local police station well in advance.