Kolkata: Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the police exercised “maximum” restraint and kept away from opening fire on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJ) protesters who went on the rampage on Kolkata on Tuesday during their “Nabanna Abhijan.”
Fifty-six policemen suffered injuries in the incident. Banerjee alleged that the saffron party brought in goons armed with bombs from outside the state to foment trouble in West Bengal.
She said, “The protesters brutally attacked many policemen. The police could have opened fire, but our administration showed maximum restraint.” She made the statement at a meeting with the administrative officials at Nimtouri in Purba Medinipur district. The protest march caused inconvenience to commuters, barely a few weeks ahead of Durga Puja.
Her government is not opposed to peaceful demonstration or protests, but the BJP and its supporters resorted to violence that is unpardonable, she said, adding that they also torched properties. Her government will not allow such things and arrests are being made and the law will take its own course, Banerjee said. One of the police officers who sustained severe injuries in the incident was assistant commandant of Reserve For Debjit Raychaudhary.
