Police personnel march in Rishra area to maintain law and order on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti in Hooghly on Thursday. , Photo Credit: ANI
A six-member team of civil society activists was stopped by the police on Saturday from visiting the violence-affected areas. During Ram Navami celebrations at Rishra in Hooghly district of West Bengal.
The “fact-finding” team, led by retired Patna High Court judge L Narasimha Reddy, was stopped near Konnagar before entering Rishra.
Police officials said prohibitory orders were in force in the violence-hit areas. The team members said that they would meet the Chandannagar police commissioner and request him to allow the team to visit the violence-affected areas.
A member of the team said that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure only meant a ban on assembly of people.
The team is scheduled to visit Shibpur in Howrah district on Sunday, and is also expected to meet West Bengal Home Secretary BP Gopalika over the violence that broke out over Ram Navami processions in Shibpur on March 30 and Rishra on April 4.
In another development, leaders of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) were also stopped from visiting Rishra. People of Rishra are peace loving and united but some people tried to create disturbance here. Our objective was to go to Rishra and talk to the local administration on the prevailing situation,” said the ISF leader.
Earlier, several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including state party president Sukanta Majumdar and Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee, were barred from visiting Rishra. Following the violence during Ram Navami, the Calcutta High Court directed the deployment of central forces during Hanuman Jayanti on 6 April. There was no news of any violence during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.
The Left Front has called for a peace march from Hooghly on 9th April and from Ballikhal to Shibpur on 10th April.