Protest near B’desh dy high commission turns violent
Times of India | 24 December 2025
Kolkata: The protest by several right-wing organisations near Beckbagan against the murder of Dipu Das in Bangladesh turned violent on Tuesday, with cops being forced to resort to lathi charge to disperse the crowd that broke barriers in order to reach the deputy high commission office. The protestors claimed that several of them were seriously injured, at least four bleeding profusely, in police action that was "unprovoked" since their protest was "peaceful".
Cops shared footage of protesters setting items on fire, breaking barriers and trying to climb on top of the rest of them, before they were chased for less than a minute on Circus Avenue. The stir caused traffic congestion in parts of Park Circus. Traffic was moving towards Bangladesh deputy high commission from Park Circus but the road going the other way was closed.
The Beckbagan area turned into a battlefield with both groups clashing multiple times. Cops used batons to disperse the crowd. Later, many protesters were forcibly taken into police vans, with some even seen climbing onto the roofs of the vans.
With protesters marching to Circus Avenue from Sealdah station — along AJC Bose Road — traffic was affected, with diversions from Park Street and Moulali. When the lathi charge took place, traffic got stalled for around seven minutes, and it took around 35 minutes in all — including time before and after the protest — for traffic to normalise.
"Regarding the incident at Beckbagan, several misleading claims are being circulated on social media. Assertions that the protest was entirely peaceful and that police action was unprovoked are incorrect," said DCP (SED) Bhola Nath Pandey, sharing four photographs of the violence that protesters indulged in.
There were protests across India, including Kolkata, by multiple groups like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, ABVP, and Hindu Jagran Manch, against the lynching and hanging of Bangladeshi national Dipu Das in Mymensingh.
On Tuesday, though protesters reached Beckbagan, they were stopped by cops before reaching the destination.