Kolkata: Several Mohun Bagan and East Bengal fans had to spend the night at police stations and face night-long interrogations over their alleged involvement in organising mass protests outside the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday. The cops claimed their presence could have led to the deterioration of the law-and-order situation.
On Sunday, thousands of football fans gathered outside the Salt Lake stadium, ignoring prohibitory orders imposed by Bidhannagar Police barely an hour before the scheduled protest. The gathering led to the lathi-charge on a section of protesters and the detention of a few. Senior cops held an emergency press meet an hour before the scheduled protest on Sunday and released two audio clips, where two voices were asking people to gather at the stadium with acid bombs and sharp weapons.
Cops said three football fans were arrested on the basis of intelligence inputs on the suspicion that they could create trouble at the rally. Cops said Rakesh Pal (23), the man behind one of the audio clips, was also arrested from Kankurgachhi. The two others were Sheikh Salman (33) alias Rashid from Barrackpore and Rahul Ghosh (21). Many others were detained from Barrackpore, Howrah, Barasat and Madhyamgram. They were released later.
Family members of at least one fan who was picked by Howrah police from his Santragachhi home moved Calcutta High Court on Monday, claiming the 26-year-old was missing since he was taken away by cops on Sunday afternoon. The case was mentioned before the division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya. The youth was subsequently released.
“I had no role in the protest and I didn’t have any plans to be at the stadium even if the derby hadn’t been cancelled. But the cops picked me up, claiming they had substantial proof against me. I had to spend a night at Bidhannagar South Police Station,” said Rajat Subhra Nandy (26), a share trader from Santragachhi. He added that he was released after Bidhannagar cops gave him a clean chit and no case was initiated against him.
Nandy said he was at home on Sunday when he received two calls – first from the Bidhannagar Cyber Cell and another from Baruipur PS – alerting him that his name and number had been mentioned in multiple protest posts on different Facebook pages and they feared he could incite violence. They also asked him not to move out of home.
“But then, I was picked up by officers of Santragachhi police and was made to sit at the police station till midnight. At 12:30 am, I was taken to Bidhannagar South Police Station, where I was kept with four others, all of whom were picked up over similar claims,” said Nandy, whose case was moved by advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee at Calcutta High Court.
Advocate Ritzu Ghoshal also approached the court on Monday over the alleged arrests of multiple supporters of the two clubs. He raised questions on the imposition of Section 163 (2) of BNSS in different pockets of the city. “Police have to act judicially. Raj Dharma is the whole purpose of the police now,” he said.
Questions were also raised on the decision to impose restrictions around RG Kar premises. After Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam permitted the filing of the case, a comprehensive petition may be filed by Tuesday or Wednesday.