Stones hurled at East Bengal bus, two supporters injured

KOLKATA: Two

East Bengal

fans were injured — one of them seriously — when a brick hit their bus while they were returning home after watching Sunday’s Derby. The brick was hurled at the bus near Apollo Hospital almost immediatetly after the supporters from Andul had boarded it. While one of them — Biswanath Chakraborty — has received seven stitches, the other person,

Bijan Bhattacharjee

, escaped with minor injuries.


“We, a group of 45 East Bengal supporters, had hired a bus to go to the stadium. When we were returning home, our bus had taken a U-turn and moved towards Kadapara when some men standing under the Metro station and claiming allegiance to a fan club started abusing us. First it was against our club, and then it became personal. One of our supporters tried to reply when stones started raining on us. A brick hit the back of the head of Chakraborty, who was sitting near the gate,” claimed Bhattacharjee.

At Apollo Hospital, club members and supporters, who had lined up for the treatment of footballer Edmund Lalrindika, pooled money for the initial treatment of Chakraborty. Several Mohun Bagan supporters turned up at the hospital from Andul to express their solidarity with the victims.

Phoolbagan police said a case of hurt had been registered. “Some unknown persons voluntarily assaulted the complainant’s friend — Biswanath Chakraborty — by throwing a brick when the complainant along with others were on their way to their residence in a bus,” said an investigating officer.