Kolkata, Sept. 30 -- Four BJP workers, including a district leader, were arrested after a mob allegedly attacked Shibpur police station late on Monday night, hours after a clash in the Chowra Bustee area. The incidents have triggered allegations of factional friction within the party's local unit.
Howrah BJP leader and minister Umesh Rai denied any internal party feud, saying the clash involved two groups whose dispute had continued since the Left regime. He said the administration would not tolerate unruly behaviour and would take action.
According to sources, the dispute is between two rival BJP factions, one led by Sikandar Khan, Howrah district president of the BJP Minority Morcha, and the other by local party worker Dawood Khan.
After the initial street clash on Monday evening, a mob allegedly led by Sikandar reached Shibpur police station, demanding the arrest of members of the rival faction.
The situation escalated inside the station, with the mob allegedly vandalising furniture, threatening officers and assaulting a police personnel who tried to
restore order.
Police registered a suo motu case and arrested four people, including Sikandar. Separately, acting on a counter-complaint over the initial clash, police arrested two people from Dawood's faction. All accused were produced before the Howrah court on Tuesday and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.