Communal turmoil in Dhulagarh: BJP to depute Parliamentary delegation

Publishing a press statement, BJP said that party's National President Amit Shah has constituted a three-member parliamentary delegation, comprising of its Lok Sabha MP Jagdambika Pal, another MP of Lok Sabha and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh and actress-turned-BJP Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly, which will visit the violence-affected area in Dhulagarh on Saturday (Dec 24).

The statement also said that BJP's Bengal president Dilip Ghosh will join the delegation as a member and pilot the Parliamentary team to the scene.

Earlier on Dec 12, people of two communities were engaged in a clash with each other at a village in West Bengal's Dhulagarh, barely 28 km from state capital Kolkata, over a religious procession to mark the birth anniversary of Holy Prophet.

During the clash, few crude bombs were allegedly hurled by one community, several houses, shops and a temple were reportedly vandalized, locals were looted and motorcycles, cycles and few homes were set on fire.

According to locals, several people were injured after being beaten up by the attackers.

The violence lasted for two more days at the area, which triggered tension at the village, locals alleged.

A heavy police force along with Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in the area, CrPC section 144 was imposed and few police pickets were set up at the village to control the situation.

Police have booked at least 49 people so far from the area for allegedly creating violence, while all types of movements have been restricted there to maintain law and order, according to reports.

Leaders of BJP and Congress went to Dhulagarh to witness violence hit area's situation on Tuesday and Monday respectively and both teams were prevented by the police from entering the village.

Following the violence, SP of Howrah (Rural division), Sabyasachi Raman Mishra, was reportedly replaced by another IPS officer Sumit Kumar.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)