Holi celebrations in city less violent this year: Kol Police stats
Times of India | 18 March 2025
12 Kolkata: Despite multiple high-profile incidents of crime, Holi 2025 was less violent than what the city witnessed in the past few years. Cops arrested 161 persons for disorderly conduct on Holi day, a figure 63% less than what the city recorded in 2024.
Only 34 litres of ID liquor were seized this year against last year's 47 litres of alcohol during checks at naka points. In 2023, cops arrested 409 people and seized 57 litres of alcohol.
While there was a gruesome murder at football legend PK Banerjee's home in Salt Lake, a Trinamool Congress worker was stabbed to death for protesting against public drinking, two engineering students drowned in the Hooghly during a bath after Holi, and two persons held for drink driving were arrested for assaulting cops at New Town police station, the city proper was far less chaotic than in earlier years.
There were around 21,000 cops deployed on the city roads on the occasion of Dol and Holi on Friday, which coincided with Ramzan prayers as well.
"Only Durga Puja sees more deployment by the force. We formed smaller pickets and ensured continuous patrolling to prevent any untoward incident," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.
Police stations held multiple coordination meetings and beat meetings with all representatives in their respective areas. Instructed by the commissioner of police, Manoj Verma, cops rushed to even minor incidents to prevent them from escalating.
"It was a much more peaceful Holi than what we have seen in earlier years. I crisscrossed the city from Behala to Kalikapur and then from Kalikapur to Salt Lake and again returned home in the evening. Nowhere did anyone stop my car, throw water balloons, or try to smear me without my consent. There were cops in uniform at all major crossroads as well," said Palash Chatterjee, a resident of Sahapur in Behala.
The chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, directed the police force to be cautious in advance and asked the city traffic police to start a drive against drunk bikers and set up 700 pickets on Thursday evening, before Holi.
"Trouble spots were identified well in advance and there were multiple teams ready to tackle any sort of problem. We are thankful to have been able to control the instances of disorderly conduct this year significantly," the officer added.