Several policeman and villagers were injured in a clash in Baduria area in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas today when cops were trying to disperse a crowd that was protesting over shortage of rations.
The officer in charge of Baduria police station sustained head injuries in the scuffle and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital.
A large police force descended on the villagers in the area after the incident and arrested at least 21 persons for the attack. Several villagers were Lathi charged by the police during the door to door search. Women, too, were attacked.
The state's food minister Jyotipriya Mallick said rations were to be distributed to 75 odd people at Dasnagar village, however, only 50 people received rations because the material got over. The 25 others who did not get the rations launched the protest under the leadership of a local BJP leader, he said.
"Ram Das, son of Shyam Das, was behind the protest by villagers. They are BJP men. they started the trouble," Mr Malik said.
The issue began around noon when villagers blocked the road at Dasnagar. When the police came to remove the roadblock and resorted to Lathicharge to disperse the crowd, villagers retaliated with stones and lathis.
Following an attack on an officer in charge of Baduria police station, a huge police force descended on local villages, stormed their houses, beat and arrested them.
The incident took place at ward 9 of Baduria municipality. Mr Malik said the local councillor had gone to distribute relief but run short.
"I have ordered the authorities to distribute food to the balance 25 people who did not get the relief," he said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the ration was not being distributed by the state government but by some NGO.
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State & District Details
State Cases Active Recovered Deaths Maharashtra5221
4248
722
251
Gujarat2272
2033
144
95
Delhi2156
1498
611
47
Rajasthan1801
1546
230
25
Tamil Nadu1596
943
635
18
Madhya Pradesh1592
1364
148
80
Uttar Pradesh1412
1226
165
21
Telangana945
728
194
23
Andhra Pradesh813
669
120
24
Kerala427
101
323
3
Karnataka425
279
129
17
West Bengal423
335
73
15
Jammu And Kashmir380
294
81
5
Haryana254
124
127
3
Punjab251
186
49
16
Bihar126
78
46
2
Odisha82
51
30
1
Uttarakhand46
27
19
0
Jharkhand45
42
0
3
Himachal Pradesh39
22
16
1
Chhattisgarh36
10
26
0
Assam35
15
19
1
Chandigarh27
13
14
0
Ladakh18
4
14
0
Andaman And Nicobar Islands17
6
11
0
Meghalaya12
11
0
1
Goa7
0
7
0
Puducherry7
4
3
0
Manipur2
0
2
0
Tripura2
1
1
0
Mizoram1
1
0
0
Arunachal Pradesh1
0
1
0
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