Bengal BJP chief arrested en route to violence-hit Beldanga

The West Bengal Police on Wednesday afternoon made a "preventive arrest" of BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar in the Krishnanagar area of Nadia district as he was moving towards violence-hit Beldanga in adjoining Murshidabad district to take stock of the situation there, a senior officer said.

The action was taken under section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which states that such arrests are made to prevent the commission of cognisable offences, he said.

"Majumdar's preventive arrest was made under section 170 of BNSS. He was heading towards a place where prohibitory orders were in place," a senior officer of Krishnanagar police district told PTI.

"I was trying to go to Beldanga to review the situation there. Our party workers have put up road blockades in other areas in protest against the police preventing us from going to Beldanga," Majumdar said, soon after his arrest by Kotwali police station.

Earlier in the day, Majumdar's convoy was stopped by the police while he was on his way to Beldanga, where around 17 people have reportedly been injured in clashes between two communities.

Police cited the imposition of prohibitory orders in the area and said the BJP leader's visit might have disrupted the peace.

Clashes reportedly erupted between two communities in Beldanga on Saturday night over an allegedly objectionable message on a display board at a temporary gate near a Kartik Puja pandal.

A huge police team stopped Majumdar's convoy at Krishnanagar, following which the BJP MP staged a sit-in. "Police are saying that prohibitory orders have been imposed in the area, hence I cannot go there. They stopped me around 70 km from Beldanga. We are not going there to create any law and order situation. We have asked them to escort us to the DM or SP office, but they are unwilling to let us go there," Majumdar told reporters.

According to a senior officer of Krishnanagar police district, Majumdar was stopped as a precautionary measure since they feared his visit to Beldanga might have disrupted peace in the area.

"We cannot allow anyone to enter Beldanga as prohibitory orders have been imposed there. That is the reason Majumdar was stopped today," the IPS officer told PTI.

At least 17 people have reportedly been injured and property damaged in the clashes in Beldanga, following which the district administration has imposed prohibitory orders and suspended internet services in the area.