Nine held for vandalism

Siliguri: Nine people were arrested for vandalising a police vehicle and the house of Gautam Chattopadhyay, member of Matigara Gram Panchayat (GP), over a woman’s sit-in protest outside her in-laws house in Tulakatajyot, Shiv Mandir, Siliguri.

All the accused were booked under section 126 (2) BNS, 132, 121 (1), 324 (3), [3 (5) PDPP (Group Criminal Activity)] and produced to Siliguri Court on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Hiranna Roy, Bappa Chakraborty, Tapan Roy, Joydeb Singha, Rina Singha, Amita Roy, Mampi Barman, Bishnupada Roy and Mampi Barman.

A woman named Rina Singha alleged that she was married to Sanjay Singha but Sanjay denied accepting her as his wife. Therefore, from Sunday, she sat on dharna in front of Sanjay’s house.

On Thursday night, locals attempted to forcibly enter the woman into Sanjay’s house. They even blocked the road near Chiriya More. Later, when the police removed them from the road, the protesters attempted to enter Sanjay’s house by breaking the lock on the gate.

When police stopped them, the protesters started an altercation. They vandalised a police vehicle and the house of the Panchayat member.

Police had to conduct a lathicharge to control the situation. Nine people were arrested from the spot, including Rina.