Lenin statues razed in Tripura, post-poll violence continues
Agartala: The post-poll violence in Tripura continued for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday even as the administration, BJP and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) urged everyone to maintain peace.
According to the leaders of CPI-M, two statues of Vladimir Lenin were razed by the BJP activists in Tripura.
"A statue of Vladimir Lenin was knocked down by the BJP activists on Monday night at Sabroom in southern Tripura. The statue was set up a few years back," Tripura CPI-M state secretary Bijan Dhar said.
Dhar alleged around 520 CPI-M supporters were injured in attacks by rival BJP-IPFT party workers in more than 225 places across Tripura since Saturday, after the declaration of the poll results.
"Arsoning, attacks and loot were carried out in around 1,745 houses. Many rubber gardens and small vehicles, hundreds of small shops, were forcibly occupied, ransacked or burned at around 500 places," Dhar told the media.
According to an earlier report, an 11.5-feet fibre statue of Vladimir Lenin was brought down with a bulldozer by the BJP activists in Belonia on Monday evening.
"The BJP supporters, chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', knocked down the statue of Lenin near a government college in Belonia," CPI-M leader Haripada Das said.
"We urge the administration and the BJP party leadership to take adequate measures to stop these post-poll violence immediately," said Dhar, also a CPI-M central committee member.
On the other hand, accusing the CPI-M for "deliberately provoking and indulging in violence and attacks on BJP supporters", Tripura BJP vice president Subal Bhowmik said that there have been 49 incidents of attacks on party workers and supporters by CPI-M cadres in the past 48 hours, injuring 17 BJP supporters.
He warned all that law would take its own course against the attackers irrespective of party affiliations.
West Tripura district police Chief Abhijit Saptarshi said police have arrested some people in Mandai in western Tripura for indulging in violence.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
