Violence continues unabated in Bhatpara

Kolkata,17 July (HS): Largescale violence and continuous bomb explosions by miscreants to scare the public once again gripped the trouble torn Bhatpara and Kankinara area today forcing the police to launch a house to house search operation to nab criminals and recover illegal arms and ammunition, though with little success.

According to reports reaching the state police headquarters here this evening, as several bombs were thrown by miscreants at Ghosh para area in Bhatpara to create panic in the locality besides forcing the shopkeepers and other businessmen to down their shutters out of fear, a strong contingent of gun weilding police rushed to the spot to chase away the criminals.

Soon,as demanded by the local people the police launched a massive search operation to recover  unused bombs and other firearms and ammunition from different parts of this industrial township in North 24 Parganas district. However till the last reports none could be arrested so far.

Since the Lok Sabha elections in May this year, Bhatpara and its two adjacent localities of Kankinara and Jagaddal under Barrackpore Parliamentary constituency  became the hot bed of political violence and all sorts of troubles almost on daily basis over the issue who would control the area.

The issue has become much more serious after former Bhatpara Municipality Chairman Arjun Singh who joined BJP after leaving Trinamool Congress,won the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat defeating former Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi of TMC. This has set off huge rivalry between the supporters of TMC and BJP and unabated violence began in the entire industrial belt of the district causing huge panic among the general public.

In the last such major incident on Monday(15 July) police fired five rounds in the air to ward off two warring groups in the same Ghoshpara area in Bhatpara after a similar violence broke out in which bombs were used freely though none was injured.

In spite of all out efforts by the district police to control violence and bring in a permanent peace in the localities,such cycles of violence have been taking place in every other day.

As a result at least four people have so far been killed and many others remained injured and admitted to hospitals.

Though at least 50 people having criminal background have so far been arrested,there is no sign of let up or abetting such violence in the area so far causing concern to both the government as well as the opposition while each of them blaming one another for the present unrest.