Kolkata: Bidhannagar City Police on Sunday imposed prohibitory orders, under BNSS 163, in and around Salt Lake stadium from 4 pm till midnight, banning meetings and assembly of more than five persons. Senior cops held an emergency press conference an hour before the scheduled protest outside the stadium where cops cited intelligence reports and released two audio clips where two voices were asking people to gather at the stadium with acid bombs and sharp weapons.
“We have specific information that there have been plans made by a section of goons to create law-and-order disturbances in this area in the name of protest. We had inputs that people were about to converge here with deadly weapons. In a derby there are 60,000-odd people and even if 50 of them start creating a disturbance it can lead to a larger ruckus. Hence, the match was cancelled and that is also the reason we have imposed prohibitory orders,” said Aneesh Sarkar, DCP, Bidhannagar.
Sarkar said five persons have been questioned and more are to follow.
In the first audio clip, a man is reportedly heard addressing a group of football fans in Kadapara to keep acid bombs handy. “We will come from Ultadanga and bring whatever we can manage but you keep acid bombs ready,” the man allegedly says. In the second clip, a different man is allegedly heard urging men and women to come armed with sharp weapons.
Earlier in the day, another audio clip surfaced on social media where a man claiming to be an officer of Bidhannagar South PS was heard asking a protester — who had shared posts on social media about being present at the gathering outside Salt Lake stadium — to call him up and asked him not to attend the protest. Cops didn’t confirm the clip’s authenticity.
The police also sent notices to other organizers, asking them not to be present at such rallies. “There is credible information that serious law-and-order problems may be created by certain anti-social elements…. I direct you and your supporters that if a gathering occurs at the mentioned place and a law-and-order issue arises, you and your supporters will be held liable and appropriate action will be taken against you and your supporters,” a notice sent to a protester said.