Clash with cops: Bail denied, ISF MLA & 17 others in police custody

KOLKATA: Denying bail, a city court on Sunday sent 18 Indian Secular Front supporters, including Bhangar MLA Naushad Siddique, to police custody till February 1 and asked that a minor, arrested in connection with the clash with cops on Saturday, be produced before the juvenile justice board on Tuesday. A Baruipur court also sent the 43, arrested for fomenting violence in Bhangar, to police custody for 10 days.

The Bankshall court premises turned into a virtual fortress on Sunday afternoon as 19 ISF supporters, including MLA Siddique and the minor, were produced in the court. Siddique shouted slogans as he entered the court. ISF workers, carrying posters and banners, also shouted slogans and demanded the immediate release of Siddique.

Public prosecutor Arup Chakraborty argued that some people are trying to disturb the peace in the state. “Cops were attacked and bricks thrown at them. There are a few more who are not arrested yet,”

Siddique’s lawyer Shamim Ahmad said, “Most of them are teachers and took part in a peaceful protest. There was a scuffle with the police and many of the ISF workers, including the Bhangar MLA, were arrested. Is it a step keeping the forthcoming Panchayat poll in mind?”

Siddique, who sought the magistrate's permission to speak, said the allegations against him are baseless.