Locals cry foul over attack arrests

KOLKATA: Relatives and friends of those arrested by Alipore police in connection with the attack on their premises on November 14 feel that the accused have been made scapegoats to shield the real culprits.
Police arrested Soumen Banerjee, Mohammad Pappu, Sheikh Rajjak, Chhotu Shaw and Mohammad Shakil for the incident that sent ripples across the state. But, local people said that the accused were not even present at the place of the incident on Friday.
Strangely enough, police prayed for judicial custody, and not police custody, for the accused as sources said that the case diary had not been made ready yet.
“They (the accused) were very much present in our locality when the attack took place at the police station. In fact, some of them were discussing how some people staged the violence at the police station with a degree of disbelief in their eyes. We cannot even think that they have been arrested in connection with this incident,” said Sk Samser Ali, a resident of Buttola within the limits of Rajabagan police station, who also claimed to be a close friend of one of the accused.
“Police picked them up from road whimsically and dragged them in the case about which they have no knowledge,” said lawyer Rizwan Ahmed. The lawyer asked, “Don’t you think that the police would have taken the accused in their custody if they were involved in such attack on a police station?”
“We can bring at least 100 people who can vouch that the trio was not present at the police station at the time of the attack. All of the accused are poor stitching workers at Metiabruz. With little education, they became the perfect scapegoats for the police, who did not want to arrest the real culprits for their proximity to ruling party,” said Mohammed Afzal, another resident of Buttola.
Local Trinamool leaders, who had led the mob, had earlier publicly owned the attack. They also said that the attack was triggered by an attempt by the public works department to erect a wall around a government plot adjacent to Magistrate House on Thackeray Road in Alipore, more than half of which has been encroached upon by residents of Bidhan Colony. But on Sunday, the same Trinamool leaders said that attacking the police force was something beyond their imagination.
South Kolkata Yuva Trinamool Congress president Pratap Saha, who is alleged to have led the mob to Alipore police station, said, “It was a conspiracy hatched by the Congress and the CPM to defame our party. Neither was I there, nor could I incite any violence against the police. In fact, the Alipore OC requested me to pacify the mob. All the youths arrested are followers of Congress leader Rakesh Singh.
Singh rubbished the claim saying that he did not know any of the accused.
Incidentally, Pratap was accused of assaulting the police personnel. He allegedly assaulted Raja Saha, a sub-inspector at the police station. Officers at the police station had said that the protesters turned violent once Pratap reached the spot.
“Do you think any common man has the courage to assault us inside a police station without any incitement?” asked a police officer.
Relatives of the five arrested youths claimed that they had nothing to do with Bidhan Colony. Neither were they residents of the colony, nor did they have any relative there.
Secretary of Bidhan Colony Residents’ Association Nagendranath Pandey said, “We don’t know any of them. We cannot say why they were arrested.”
But, the police do not have any video footage of the attack on the basis of which the real culprits could be identified. The police, who will have to face questions in connection with the arrests in court on Tuesday, do not have any eyewitness either, said Arghya Goswami, a lawyer who appeared for three of the arrested youths.