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Narada case: No social distancing as TMC workers protest ministers’ arrest
Covid-19 protocols went for a toss on day 2 of the lockdown. Some of the protesters were not even wearing masks and most were wearing it incorrectly. There was no social distancing as a scuffle broke out between protesters and the police when the former tried to break the barricades and enter the Nizam Palace
Covid-19 protocols went for a toss on Monday, Day 2 of the lockdown in West Bengal, as hundreds of Trinamool Congress workers and supporters hit the streets across the state, staging protests against the arrest of two Cabinet ministers and an MLA in connection with the 2016 Narada sting case.
Tension mounted as some people hurled bricks, shoes and bottles at the central forces guarding the Nizam Palace which houses the CBI’s office even as they shouted slogans against the arrest.
Earlier in the day, the CBI arrested ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, MLA Madan Mitra, and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee.
Soon after, while chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost her brother to Covid past Saturday, rushed to the CBI’s office, a few hundred TMC workers and supporters also followed her, shouting slogans.
Some of the protesters were not even wearing masks and most were wearing it incorrectly, below their nose and mouth. There was no social distancing as a scuffle broke out between party supporters and the police when the former tried to break the barricades and enter the Nizam Palace.
State governor Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted, “Invited attention @MamataOfficial, On channels and in public domain I notice arson and pelting of stones at CBI office. Pathetic that Kolkata Police @KolkataPolice and West Bengal Police @WBPolice are just onlookers. Appeal to you to act and restore law and order.”
“Concerned at alarming situation. Call upon @MamataOfficial to follow constitutional norms & rule of law. Police @WBPolice @KolkataPolice @HomeBengal must take all steps to maintain law & order. Sad- situation is being allowed to drift with no tangible action by authorities,” he wrote.
Also Read | ‘Arrest me’: Mamata Banerjee tells CBI after 4 held in Narada sting op case
The CBI is scheduled to produce the accused ministers and legislators in the court later in the day. A large police contingent is deployed to prevent any law and order violation.
Protests also erupted in multiple places across the state where TMC workers and supporters blocked roads, took out rallies and burned tyres.
“West Bengal is fighting a battle against Covid. Under such circumstances, the CBI, prompted by the BJP, chose to arrest to ministers. This is not just revenge but would also have a negative impact on the fight against Covid. We condemn this arrest,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the chief minister’s nephew, urged people not to violate the lockdown norms. “I urge everyone to abide by the law & refrain from any activity that violates lockdown norms for the sake of the larger interest of Bengal and its people. We have utmost faith in the judiciary & the battle will be fought legally,” he tweeted.
The West Bengal government imposed a lockdown from Sunday, cancelling trains, buses and Kolkata Metro, shutting down government and private offices and banning all types of political and social gatherings to check the spread of Covid-19.
The daily count of Covid-19 cases has shot up exponentially in the past month now, with experts blaming the rise on countless election rallies that were held in April violating all safety protocols.
On Sunday, the state registered 19,117 new cases, taking the total number of active cases in the state to 131,805. As many as 147 persons have succumbed to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 13,284 since 2020.
