On Thursday night, a scuffle broke out between the Bally police and a few residents of a five-storeyed building, Ashok Vihar in Belur over bursting of crackers despite the recent firecrackers ban.
As per reports, the cops had received a complaint about 20 residents bursting firecrackers on the rooftop of the building. On seeing the cops, several women and children fled from the scene. Many residents stayed back and explained to the police that the firecrackers were a year old and that children wanted to celebrate Diwali by burning the unused firecrackers. When the cops began to seize the existing fireworks and asked the individuals to accompany them to the police station, a scuffle broke out and they were reportedly assaulted by the other residents of the building on the third floor with bamboo and hockey sticks.
During the scuffle, two policemen were injured and were rushed to the hospital. The cops had to call in additional reinforcements from the Howrah police headquarters to control the situation. A total of 11 policemen, including sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, home guards and constables were attacked. The cops have arrested 5 people, namely, Pawan Gonda, Kisan Gonda, Shivam Gonda, and Rajkumar Gonda and Binod Gonda in connection to the assault.
Accused who were bursting firecrackers and had got into a scuffle with police sent to police custody by a Howrah, Bengal court
Reportedly, the accused were booked for rioting, obstruction of a public servant, defiance of a government servant, attempt to murder and other relevant Sections of the Disaster Management Act. They were sent to police custody by a Howrah court on Friday. It must be mentioned that the charges against the accused can carry up to a maximum punishment of 10 years jail term.
While speaking about the incident, a police officer said, “On the one hand, we have strict directions from the court to implement the ban at any cost and on the other, we are getting assaulted for trying to do our duty. This is very insensitive on behalf of citizens.”