Communal tension continues in Bengal's Mothabari, 57 arrested

Kolkata: Tension continued in Mothabari in West Bengal's Malda district, where communal attacks took place last week. The state police have claimed to have made 57 arrests in this connection so far.

While the state police continued to make claims, even at the Calcutta High Court, that the situation in Mothabari was more or less under control, the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, refuted the claims.

According to him, if the situation had been under control, there would not have been restrictions on the entry of opposition party leaders and media personnel to troubled spots by placing barricades far away from the hotspots of tension. Adhikari wrote a letter to Governor CV Ananda Bose last week and requested him to direct the State Government to deploy Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) at Mothabari till the situation comes under control. Meanwhile, amid the continuing tension, the BJP’s State president in West Bengal and the Union Minister of State, Sukanta Majumdar, is scheduled to visit Mothabari in the day and speak to the members of the affected Hindu families. Already, a huge police contingent has been deployed around the tension hotspots and barricades have been raised, probably to prevent Majumdar and his associates from going to the troubled zone. District police officers said the security arrangements have been made to prevent fresh igniting of tension

in the areas.

Meanwhile, the BJP leadership in West Bengal has started preparations to approach the Calcutta High Court this week, seeking a National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation into the matter.