Roopa Ganguly and other BJP leaders were stopped near the Kolkata airport as they attempted to visit Basirhat, where violence erupted again on Thursday after a police lathicharge. Teams from the Congress and the Left were asked to turn back too by the police, which has barricaded Basirhat, about 100 km from state capital Kolkata.
The opposition parties said they were going to the town to appeal for calm; Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has requested them to keep away, promising that no leader from her Trinamool Congress will go there either.
Ganguly and 19 party leaders were detained by the police close to the airport. After being detained, the BJP team was brought to the Airport police station.
“We told the delegation that they will not be allowed to go to Baduria, as per the decision of the administration. The situation is still tense, that is why nobody is being allowed to go there.
“But they were adamant and said either they will court arrest or will proceed forward. So we had to detain them,” a senior police officer of Bidhanagar police Commissionerate said.
After four days of communal violence, the situation in Basirhat was said to be “under control” by the Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma.
Heavy security forces have been deployed in and around the area in the wake communal violence in West Bengal.
Meanwhile, Left leaders Mohammad Selim, Sujan Chakraborty and Tanmoy Bhattacharya were also not allowed to enter Basirhat. A Congress delegation led by Adhir Chowdhury was also stopped, following which they protested and agitated along the Jassore Road.
