Tue stir: Bangla parallels drew police focus to violence risk
Times of India | 29 August 2024
Kolkata: Parallels with the “Dabi Ek Dofa Ek” (one demand, one agenda) slogans with Bangladesh students’ unrest, a call for CM Mamata Banerjee’s resignation, and the little-known group Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj’s call for Nabanna Abhijan modelled on the “Long March” by students in Bangladesh, had first prompted state intelligence agencies to focus on the risk of violence during the Tuesday protests.
With the unprecedented security build-up, and by making public the group’s intent, police combated the protesters on the streets and debunked their claims. It also helped the police, which came in for sharp criticism for its intelligence failure to stop the Aug 14 RG Kar vandalism, avoid a repeat.
Now, as things fanned out on Tuesday — despite 25 crucial pre-march arrests — with 53 cops getting injured, it seems the cops’ anxiety about the march turning violent had more to it than just mere rhetoric. Till reports last came in, at least 15 FIRs have been lodged in Kolkata and Howrah across 12 police stations. The losses run into lakhs, with police transport and equipment being either set on fire or vandalized. “If we had not arrested the 25 people beforehand or not declared the rally illegal, things could have been far more serious than now,” said ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar. What had alerted intelligence officials was also the fact that the organisation had no roots. Its origin was social media and often, the less-used platforms other than Facebook and WhatsApp.
CM Mamata Banerjee acknowledged the police’s role on Tuesday. “Despite an attack on cops that led to them suffering severe head injuries, damage to their eyes and breaking their hands and feet, the cops showed immense restraint. I salute the police (for their actions). They let their own blood spill but did not allow BJP to get bodies (as per their plan),” Banerjee said. Later, at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the CM asked the ministers to visit the 36 policemen injured by the agitators who tried to march to Nabanna. The state is bearing the cost of their treatment.
“Making 147 arrests in Kolkata in a span of 24 hours is not easy. The total arrests in the state stand at 266. Do remember we have slapped attempt-to-murder charges against them. The fact that we had intelligence helped. The effort to track social networks in the past week has been one of the biggest operations undertaken by state intelligence units in recent memory,” a Special Branch source said. Sources said they are looking into the background of certain organisers and have identified spots across Kolkata and Howrah where raids will be carried out in the next 48 hours.