Prohibitory orders clamped in Bengal's Hooghly after clashes during Ram Navami rally
Rishra (WB) (PTI): Prohibitory orders are in force in West Bengal's Hooghly district, where clashes broke out between two groups during a Ram Navami procession, police said on Monday.
Internet services have also been suspended in some parts of the district till 10 pm on Monday, they said.
Two Ram Navami processions were organised in the Rishra police station area, and the second one came under attack near Wellington Jute Mill More on GT Road around 6.15 pm on Sunday, police said.
A few police personnel were injured in the violence, they said.
BJP vice-president Dilip Ghosh, who was part of the second procession, told PTI that people were walking peacefully to the Jagannath temple when stones were hurled at them.
Pursurah BJP MLA Biman Ghosh suffered injuries, he said.
A senior officer of the Chandannagar Police Commissionerate said, "The procession was passing through a traditional route when a group started throwing stones at it. We took immediate steps to address the situation."
No person has yet been arrested in connection with the violence, she said.
Security has been bolstered in the area to prevent any further flare-up.
"Police are conducting route march, and prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 have been imposed in Rishra wards 1-5 and Serampore's ward 24. Internet services will remain suspended in parts of Rishra and Serampore till 10 pm on Monday," she said.
Meanwhile, Governor C V Ananda Bose said those behind the violence will be put behind bars.
"The miscreants, the hooligans, and the thugs will be crushed with an iron hand. Mobocracy cannot derail democracy. The state is determined to put an end to this arson and looting," he said.
Condemning the violence, the state's Industry Minister Shashi Panja alleged that the BJP was trying to destroy peace and tranquility in the state.
"BJP is known for vandalism of public property, and triggering communal riots all over the country," she said.
The state government will firmly deal with the situation and take necessary action to punish the perpetrators, Panja said.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Joyprakash Majumdar also questioned the need to organise the processions two days after Ram Navami.
"Why are they so hell-bent on taking out Ram Navami processions during the holy month of Ramzan? The BJP wants to engineer riots in Bengal to create instability for political gains," he told PTI.
Majumdar claimed that some participants in the rally were carrying weapons such as swords, which created panic among people.
Violence during Ram Navami celebrations had rocked parts of neighbouring Howrah district on Thursday and Friday, leading to the arrest of 45 people.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Court can reject anticipatory bail but cannot direct accused to surrender: SC
New Delhi (PTI): A court can reject anticipatory bail of an accused but it has no jurisdiction to direct him to surrender before the trial court, the Supreme Court has said.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made the observation while hearing a plea filed by a man accused of cheating and forgery.
"If the court wants to reject the anticipatory bail, it may do so, but the court has no jurisdiction to say that the petitioner should now surrender," the bench said.
The Jharkhand High Court had rejected anticipatory bail plea of the accused and asked him to surrender and seek regular bail.
In this case, a complaint had been filed before a magistrate alleging offences under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged document) and 120B read with 34 of the IPC, in connection with a land dispute.
The high court had dismissed the second anticipatory bail application of the accused on the ground that no new circumstances were shown.
It had relied on its earlier order rejecting his first anticipatory bail plea, in which the court directed the petitioner to surrender before the trial court and seek regular bail in terms of the decision in Satender Kumar Antil v. CBI.
The top court said such a direction was wholly without jurisdiction and said that if a court chooses to reject anticipatory bail, it may do so, but it cannot compel the accused to surrender.
