By IANS,
Kolkata : Several people were injured and many arrested after a procession led by a human rights organisation in protest against the eviction of slum dwellers in east Kolkata’s Nonadanga area were allegedly attacked by miscreants linked to the Trinamool Congress.
The police, however, denied any knowledge of miscreants backed by the Trinamool Congress beating up the processionists.
The human rights organisation – Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR)- claimed that they were mercilessly beaten by the miscreants and then by the police.
“We had a prior permission to hold the programme, but still we were attacked by police and beaten up mercilessly both by the goons of Trinamool and police. We condemn this. Is this democracy,” lamented APDR general secretary Debaprasad Roy Choudhury.
The procession was attacked at the starting point near Hazra Crossing in south Kolkata – close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence.
A few hundred people became homeless after shanties of Nonadanga area was razed by civic officials. Last week too some people were injured when slum dwellers evicted from their homes blocked a road and clashed with the police.
“Why is the government becoming more and more intolerant with the every passing day? This is not a good sign. We will continue to protest against the anti-people move of the government,” said Sujato Bhadra, a human rights activist.
APDR also claimed that several of its activists were arrested by the police.
A senior police officer, however, claimed that APDR didn’t have prior permission to hold the agitation and denied any knowledge of activists being beaten up by alleged goons of Trinamool Congress.
“There was no prior permission to hold the agitation. So we had to remove them and some of them were arrested. I have no knowledge of activists being beaten up,” the officer said.