The protests regarding the controversial Waqf Act took a violent turn in Bengal’s Murshidabad district, where three people, including a father-son duo, were killed. 150 people have been arrested in the case, while the chief minister had asked the people to be calm and not indulge in non-religious activities in the name of religion. She also emphasised that the act will not be implemented in the state.
With the current situation going out of control, the Union Home Secretary took a video meeting with the Chief Secretary of West Bengal and the Director General of Police to review the situation in Murshidabad. Where police personnel have been deployed. It has been reported by the police that protests began right after the passage of the bill in many cities, but the protesters became violent, and the father-son duo from Samshergunj were killed in the violence. The victims have been identified as Hargobindo Das(72) and Chandan Das (40), while the third person, who has not yet been recognised, is said to have died due to bullet injuries.
Addressing a press conference, the Director General of Police, Rajeev Kumar, said, “We will not tolerate hooliganism, we will deal with it very, very strongly. Police use minimum force. But I want to make it clear–we will deal with the situation strongly.”
While it has been confirmed that the mob was aggressive and to control the situation, police had to resort to firing, and in the effort, 15 policemen were injured. The restrictions are in place and the area is strictly under control, but the situation has sent shock waves to the entire nation and the conditions are uncertain for the next few hours. To control the situation, the BSF has deployed five teams of staff to handle the mob along with the state police.
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had also claimed that over 400 Hindu families were forced to leave their homes in the Murshidabad district.
Sharing the videos and photos of the victims on X, he blamed the CM of Bengal for “appeasement politics”. The violence has been horrifying, but what is worse is the blame game that the parties have started playing on each other.
