E-Paper
Bengal cops injured in clash with villagers over burial of Covid-19 victim
The officer-in-charge of Madarihat police station was injured in the clash. The villagers alleged that a local resident sustained a bullet injury but the authorities said police did not open fire.
Several policemen and villagers were injured in a clash in the Salkumar Haat area of Bengal’s Alipurduar district on Sunday night when locals stopped the police from burying the body of a man, alleging that it was being done secretly as he had died of Covid-19.
The officer-in-charge of Madarihat police station was injured in the clash. The villagers alleged that a local resident sustained a bullet injury but the authorities said police did not open fire.
Local people said that 60-year-old Haidar Ali, a resident of Tin Chula tea estate in Kalchini community block, was admitted at the Aayush Hospital at Tapsikhatta in Alipurduar 1 community block. The hospital has been earmarked for treatment of Covid-19 patients. The hospital authorities, however, did not comment on the incident.
“Ali was admitted on Sunday morning and he died at night. Though his swab sample was sent for a test the report did not arrive till Monday night,” said a police official who did not wish to be identified.
“Four people, including members of the dead man’s family, have been quarantined as a precautionary measure,” he added.
When police took the body for burial to Salkumar Haat near the bank of Torsa River, local people gathered at the spot and protested. They attacked the men in uniform and ransacked many police vehicles. Two vehicles were also set on fire.
Amitava Maiti, Superintendent of Police, Alipurduar district, said, “We have filed cases against some local people. One police officer has been shifted to a private hospital in Siliguri. His condition is stable.”
