West Bengal: BJP team of MPs on their way to riot hit Basirhat detained

Kolkata Police today detained BJP leaders who were on their way to Basirhat in North-24 Parganas district of West Bengal. This is the second day in a row when politicians were prevented from visiting the riot-hit region.

BJP leaders Meenakshi Lekhi, Om Mathur and Satyapal Singh were taken to the police station after they arrived in Kolkata today. They were detained about 100 kilometres from Kolkata.

The three leaders were tasked by BJP president Amit Shah yesterday to visit the trouble torn area of West Bengal, which is under the grip of communal tension.

Following the detention, Lekhi questioned the impostion of section 144 of CrPC in the affected areas. News agency ANI reported that Lekhi and other leaders were taken to the airport police station.

Earlier, BJP leader Rupa Ganguly , Congress leader Adhir Chowdhary and some CPM workers too were detained by the West Bengal Police.

The BJP that has been hitting out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ever since the violence broke out at Basirhat, is also planning to to submit a memorandum to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi demanding imposition of President's Rule in the state.

Baduria and North-24 Paraganas witnessed violence after a 17-year-old boy allegedly shared an objectionable post on Facebook. Soon the situation got out of control and several companies of BSF were deployed to quell the riots.

On Thursday night, fresh clashes were reported from the region and a person identifed as Kartik Gosh died in police firing.

Meanwhile, the Cheif Minister has slammed BJP, RSS and other fringe elements for stoking violence in the state.

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West Bengal violence: BJP, CPM delegations stopped from entering Basirhat

Basirhat violence: Opposition teams flock to the riot-torn suburb

Communal violence in Basirhat: Fresh violence, protests on. Amit Shah to send team of MPs

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