In its report to the Calcutta High Court on last week’s violence in Jangipur in Murshidabad district during a protest against the newly enacted Waqf law, the West Bengal government stated that following the April 8 violence in Raghunathganj area, the administration had received intelligence report of possible escalation in situation on April 11 after the Friday prayers and had accordingly deployed a large contingent of police force at Sajur More in Suti area.
In its 34-page report to the Division Bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, the government stated that protests against the Waqf law by different outfits began from April 4 across Jangipur but they remained “peaceful and non-violent”.
On the first day of violence on April 8, the government affidavit said a huge crowd of around 8000-10,000 started to assemble on the PWD ground.
“…out of which, a large crowd of approximately 4000-5000 proceeded towards Umarpur and blocked the National Highway at about 15.00 hrs. IC Raghunathganj PS and SDPO Jangipur pursued them to leave the NH as vehicles, including an ambulance, school buses and public transport etc were stuck for a long time. But the agitated mob did not pay any heed to the lawful direction of police officers,” the report stated.
“At about 16.25 hrs, all of a sudden, the crowd became unruly… and started throwing bricks, stones at police personnel… They started assaulting with lathis, hasua (sickle), iron rods and deadly weapons etc with an intention to kill police personnel. The miscreants snatched a pistol of SDPO Jangipur that was loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition. The mob set fire to a vehicle of SDPO Jangipur and a Highway Patrolling Vehicle as well as public properties at Umarpur. Thereafter, the police fired two rounds to disperse the unruly mob,” it stated.
According to the report, the local Intelligence branch alerted about the possibility of agitation on April 11 after Friday prayers at Umarpur, Sajur More in Suti PS, and Old Dakbungalow More in Samsherganj.
“Accordingly, a huge police arrangement was made at the three places… At about 14.30 hrs, a huge number of crowd about 4,000-5,000 youths started gathering at Sajur More… The police pacified them not to obstruct the NH, but they did not pay any heed to the direction. They suddenly blocked NH and started shouting slogans. After some time, the mob became unruly and started throwing bricks and stones at the police personnel. To disperse the crowd, police used non-lethal weapons, but they became more violent. On getting information, Additional SP (Jangipur), SP Jangipur PD, DIG (Murshidabad Range), and DIG Traffic rushed to the spot with a huge force. The unruly mob became more violent and furious and pelted bricks, stones, glass bottles, bombs, and fired at the police personnel… Police fired several rounds of non-lethal weapons to disperse the crowd, but they became more violent. Many police personnel suffered severe injuries and were admitted to a hospital. On further escalation of the violation and in the right of self defence, police opened fire to disperse the crowd. Two persons got bullet injuries due to firing and were immediately shifted to Jangipur Sub Divisional Hospital,” the report read.
“A total 314 shells, 137 rounds of rubber bullets, 80 rounds PAG, 30 rounds of hand grenades were used by the police personnel to disperse the mob,” it added.
In the report, the government has listed the measures taken and the current situation in the district.
“The government offices, financial institutions are open. The daily vegetable market is open. About 40% of shops are open now. To prevent spread of rumours, 1093 social media accounts have been blocked since April 11. One case has been registered for spreading fake news on social media. After the April 11 violence, the internet was suspended… Drone surveillance is continuing in the affected areas as well as other areas for proper surveillance. For the purpose of proper investigation in connection with cases related to violence, murder in Samserganj and other areas of Jangipur, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted,” it added.