South 24 Parganas: The locals in West Bengal's Bhangar on Tuesday protested against the erection of electrical posts on agricultural land leading to clashes with the police and death of a villager, who succumbed to his injuries sustained during the protest.
The situation became tense after large police force entered the area on Monday and allegedly manhandled villagers and harassed them throughout the night. Villagers clashed with the police in phases all day long. The situation went out of control after police, on their way to the region, tried breaking the barricades set up by villagers who tried preventing them from leaving the place.
The villagers, then, resorted to heavy stone pelting on the police; the latter lathicharged and tear gassed the mob. Violence snowballed and villagers torched several police vehicles in the area.
Crude bombs were also reportedly lobbed at the police injuring some policemen. Villagers allege that police opened fire at them and one of the villagers, who sustained injury initially, succumbed later in the evening. He was moved to SSKM hospital in Kolkata where he died. The relatives of the victim alleged that the suspended TMC leader Arabul Islam's men fired at him.
The resistance to setting up of the high tension power grid by villagers (mostly farmers) began in 2014 and the state government had been trying to negotiate with villagers. The protesters maintain that the project poses major environmental hazards and will affect their livelihood which is farming and fishery.
The state power department has already set up a substation in the area stretching over 13 acres of land and towers have been put up. It was in the process of drawing HT cables (440KV), which is part of the 950 km long grid, connecting Rajarhat in the outskirts of Kolkata with Purnia in Bihar.
Fresh agitation against the project started in November 2016 despite repeated assurances by local TMC leaders that the project was for the good of villagers. TMC has alleged that the villagers have been influenced by "outsiders" against this project. A section of students from Jadavpur University has allegedly provided support to the agitators all this while.
The administration has now withdrawn all police personnel from the area to pacify villagers. The government has shelved the project once and for all. However, tension continues to simmer.