Kolkata

The Calcutta High Court on Saturday directed the immediate deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district after protests against the recently passed Waqf (Amendment) Act escalated into deadly violence, resulting in the deaths of three individuals.

The directive came amid mounting tension and law and order breakdowns in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district, which has witnessed widespread unrest for the past few days over the controversial legislation.

Among those killed in the violence are a father and son, Hargobindo Das and Chandan Das, residents of Dhulian in Samserganj. It is alleged that both were hacked to death by a section of the protesters.

A third victim, an unidentified minor, succumbed to bullet injuries in Suti. According to reports, the minor and his friend were caught in the crossfire at Sajur Crossing on Friday and both were rushed to a local hospital, where one of them died on Saturday.

118 arrested; cops urge restraint

West Bengal’s Additional Director General of Police Javed Shamim informed the media on Saturday that 118 individuals have been arrested so far in connection with the violence. He urged citizens not to fall prey to rumours and warned against attempts to spread misinformation that could incite further unrest.

In response to the growing unrest, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued an official statement on Saturday declaring, for the first time publicly and unequivocally, that the Waqf (Amendment) Act will not be implemented in West Bengal. She further argued that there was no justification for the protests to turn violent if the state government had already decided against enforcing the law.

Calcutta HC steps in

The violence led the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, to approach the Calcutta High Court on Saturday seeking deployment of CAPF in Murshidabad, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas and Kolkata. While the court did not grant the request for all four districts, a special bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury directed immediate CAPF deployment specifically in Murshidabad.

The court observed that it could not remain silent in light of the seriousness of the complaints. CAPF personnel, primarily from the Border Security Force (BSF), have already been deployed in the most volatile pockets such as Suti, Samserganj and Dhulian. The court’s order now extends this deployment to the entire district.

ALSO READ: Amid war, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan give peace a chance

During the hearing, the counsel representing the Leader of the Opposition accused Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury of directly provoking the violence with incendiary public remarks and also claimed that BSF forces already present were not being adequately utilised by the local administration.

In response, the state government’s counsel, senior Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, argued that the petition was politically motivated. However, he stated that the government did not, in principle, oppose the deployment of CAPF in Murshidabad.