... BJP workers clash with cops in Kolkata
KOLKATA: Hundreds of BJP workers led by state and central leaders clashed with the police, set a jeep on fire and damaged vehicles on Thursday as the party’s Lalbazar agitation ended in chaos on Brabourne Road, Bentinck Road, Phears Lane and Bowbazar Street.
The police used lathi and teargas to disperse the crowds.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and more than a hundred BJP supporters were injured. Vijayvargiya, Ghosh, Mahila Morcha president Roopa Ganguly and several others were arrested.
Though the police cracked down after the agitators set a jeep on fire and lobbed loud bombs, the men in uniform appeared less marauding than they were on May 22, when the CPI(M) led a much bigger crowd towards Nabanna, the state secretariat.
The police this time, used a strategy that left BJP supporters clueless. Using drones, they quickly identified the location of BJP leaders and whisked them away much before the large processions could come close to Lalbazar. With the leaders in police custody, the followers panicked. The police chased them away.