Kolkata: Police personnel were attacked by slum-dwellers and local residents in two separate incidents at Mukundapur and Beniapukur on Monday night.
According to police sources, on Monday night at around 10 pm, a team from Topsia police station led by sub-inspector Saptarshi Ghosh nabbed a notorious criminal identified as Shaikh Shahnawaz alias Chatan Kallo from Tiljala Road near the rail bridge area. He was a warrant case accused, who had to be arrested before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Seeing Shahnawaz getting arrested, local slum dwellers obstructed the police from taking away the accused. They even put up a blockade so that no police personnel could leave the spot.
Meanwhile, some of the agitators assaulted police personnel and snatched Shahnawaz away from police custody. Five police personnel including Ghosh sustained injuries during a scuffle with the agitators that followed.
Later, a police force from Topsia and Beniapukur police stations went to the spot and brought the situation under control. The injured sub-inspector later lodged a complaint at Beniapukur police station against unknown persons on charges of 332 IPC (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 224 IPC (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) and 34 IPC (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
In another incident, six police personnel were injured late on Monday night, while trying to stop a few persons from creating nuisance in the area at Mukundapur. According to police, at around 12:05 am on Monday night, police control room got a call that some youths were consuming alcohol openly at a religious programme.
Upon receiving the information, six police personnel including an officer went to the spot and found the youths with liquor bottles. When police warned them and asked them to leave the place, the youths allegedly used abusive language and started screaming. Meanwhile, some locals gathered at the spot and obstructed police action.
Seeing no other way, police tried to nab the youths consuming liquor but were not able to do so as locals put up a strong resistance. When they tried to use force, the agitators allegedly attacked the police personnel.
As the police personnel were outnumbered, they had to back off. All six of them sustained minor injuries and were treated and discharged from Baghajatin State General Hospital.
Later, a case was initiated on charges of 147 IPC (punishment for rioting), 148 IPC (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 IPC (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence commit¬ted in prosecution of common object), 332 IPC (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 506 IPC (criminal intimidation) against unknown persons. No one has been arrested in this connection till Tuesday night.