Mob attack: Cops admit to firing in self-defence

Kolkata: Police on Monday admitted to firing two rounds in "self-defence" in South 24-Parganas's Dholarhat, but refused to lend credence to allegations that the firing killed a 24-year-old local Abdus Salam Naskar on Sunday.
The state, however, handed over probe to CID on a day when 49 protesters, mostly locals, were arrested for rioting.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee also said that she would bring a law to fine those who torch police vehicles.
"Suddenly, they are torching police vehicles. We will have to come up with a law. Those who do it will have to provide compensation. I will push for this law in the assembly (in the next session)," she told reporters at Nabanna.
This comes after the CM mooted a near-similar legislation to penalise bandh-day enforcers who damage public property.
Protesting over the alleged police inaction to track down the killers of a local goat trader, whose body was found on September 4, locals laid siege to the Dhola police station demanding action on Sunday evening. The locals outnumbering the policemen (stationed inside) had indulged in brick-batting and arson (setting police vehicles on fire). Police said they had resorted to lathicharge and then had to fire two rounds in self-defence. Locals, however, alleged that police had fired around 14 rounds which killed one person and left another injured.
The police insistence of self-defence is not without reason. With the Mamata Banerjee government scrapping a half-a-century-old police regulation - which could have justified the firing - officers can now face criminal charges if they fail to prove that they had fired in self defence. Any police firing without magisterial order is illegal in Bengal.