Isha Khan Choudhury. File
Congress Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Malda Dakshin constituency Isha Khan Choudhury wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday (April 21, 2025) seeking extension of stay of central and State security forces in the violence affected areas of Murshidabad.
It is worth noting that certain parts of the violence-hit Dhulian and Samsherganj areas of Murshidabad fall under the Malda Dakshin Lok Sabha constituency.
On April 11 and 12, a protest against the recently passed Waqf Act had turned violent, with protestors vandalising and torching public and private properties in the Samsherganj, Dhulian, Jafrabad and Bedbona regions of the district.
Two people in Jafrabad, Hargobind Das and his son Chandan Das, were killed in communal violence. One Ejaz Ahmed succumbed to bullet injuries after police opened fire to bring the mob at Suti under control.
On April 12, the Calcutta High Court directed the deployment of central armed police forces in the region. Multiple companies of the Border Security Force are also deployed.
“For generations, the residents of this region have lived together peacefully which has never been broken since independence and 99.99% of the public wishes to continue this brotherhood & sisterhood… These events have not only strained community relations in these areas and have also reduced public confidence in the ability of police to respond in a timely manner to such situations,” Mr Choudhury wrote in his letter to the Chief Minister.
In the letter, he requested an extension of the duration of the camps of Central and State security forces in the specifically affected areas of Bedbona in Dhuliyan Municipality, and Jafrabad under Tinpakuria Gram Panchayat in Samsherganj.
Over 100 FIRs have been lodged in connection to the violence, and at least 276 people have been arrested, according to the West Bengal police.
Published – April 24, 2025 08:56 am IST