State govt to deploy paramilitary forcesin3 districts during Hanuman Jayanti : Decision comes after Calcutta HC order

Decision comes after Calcutta HC order

PTI, Kolkata, Apr 5, 2023 :  Following the direction of the Calcutta High Court, the West Bengal government on Wednesday decided to deploy paramilitary forces in the police commisionerates of Hooghly, Barrackpore and Kolkata during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations, a senior official said.

Hooghly, a part of which witnessed violence during the Ram Navami festival recently, and Barrackpore are industrial areas of the state.

“There will be an ample number of state police forces deployed at sensitive areas in the state and also at those places where violence was witnessed recently. Apart from that, we have decided to deploy three companies of paramilitary forces in Kolkata, Hooghly and Barrackpore commissionerates,” the official told PTI after a high-level meeting.

Clashes also occurred in a part of Howrah district during Ram Navami festival.

It was also decided at the meeting that a list of volunteers participating in processions scheduled for the Hanuman Jayanti festival will have to be submitted to the local police station.

“Everyone will be given an identity card by the police. No one will be allowed to participate in the procession without this card,” he said.

The administration will not allow more than 100 people to participate in any procession on Thursday.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to requisition central forces for assisting the state police in maintaining peace during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.

“We have taken all sorts of precautionary measures and will not allow anything to go wrong tomorrow,” the official said.

The decisions were taken at a meeting held virtually by Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi with senior police officers of the state.

“We do not want any repetition of incidents of vandalism or clashes which we witnessed during the Ram Navami processions,” the bureaucrat said.