Uneasy calm in violence-hit Bhatpara;
Streets of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal wore a deserted look on Sunday as very few people stepped out amidst prohibitory orders in the area. Three days ago, clashes in Bhatpara had claimed two lives and left at least four people injured.
Closed shops under the Barrackpore industrial belt added to the atmosphere of panic and apprehension.
Kankinara market, which otherwise bustles with buyers on Sunday mornings, remained empty with very few people moving out of their houses.
The area is witnessing disturbance and normal life has been affected. Post-Poll violence has instilled fear amongst the locals.
"We are unable to run our business normally due to the disturbance in the area. For the last 35 days, we could hardly open our shops as miscreants are hurling bombs every now and then," a local businessman said.
Outsiders have been prohibited from entering the area and the order is being monitored by a number of police pickets set up at important crossings near Ghoshpara and Kalyani highway.
A three-member delegation, comprising Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs S.S. Ahluwalia, Satya Pal Singh and Vishnu Dayal Ram, visited the house of the two deceased - Rambabu Shaw and Dharambir Shaw - in Bhatpara on Saturday afternoon.
Fresh tension erupted shortly after the delegation left the area as a group of locals agitated against the police accusing them of inaction and pelted stones at the personnel on duty.
Police resorted to a baton charge on two occasions to disperse the mob resulting in one person sustainimg a head injury.
The region, which falls under the Barrackpore parliamentary constituency, has been tense since the election results were announced on May 23.
Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA from Bhatpara Arjun Singh, who defected to the BJP just before the elections, won the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat, while his son Pawan Singh won the Assembly by-election.
Protesting against the police brutality, BJP workers led by local MP Arjun Singh, held a demonstration outside the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate on Friday.
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