On Friday, April 7, West Bengal’s Hooghly district police registered two cases against the Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra organizers. The police said that the organizers did not have permission to take out the Shobha Yatra and that some of the participants brandished swords during the Yatra in Bansberia. No arrests have been made so far.
Reportedly, the Hooghly Rural Superintendent of Police Amandeep said that “several weapons and DJ boxes were seized during the Shobha Yatra. Legal action will be taken against those who violated the law after identifying them.”
According to police, the participants of the procession brandished swords and other such weapons. Police sources said that a large number of weapons have been seized from the procession. However, locals are asking how the procession featured swords despite a strict ban on such displays as per a High Court order when there was a heavy police presence.
The procession had started in front of the Hanuman temple at Kalbazar in Banshberia, where 17 committees had participated. Allegedly each committee carried their own DJ system in the procession. A paramilitary force did a route march ahead of the Hanuman Jayanti Sobha Yatra.
It is notable that following the attack on Ram Navami processions last week in Howrah, the Calcutta High Court had directed the state government to seek assistance from the para-military forces during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. The court had also said that nobody should make any statement regarding the festival in public or in the media. Due to the presence of the security forces, the Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated peacefully in West Bengal without any violence. Reportedly a total of eight processions and around 80 puja and bhog distribution programmes were held on Thursday.
Yesterday BJP leader and Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee was stopped by the State police officials from joining the Hanuman Jayanti procession in Hooghly by calling her an ‘outsider’. The BJP MP was on her way to a temple at Banshberiea to perform puja on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti when the police stopped her vehicle and denied her to go further citing a court order banning entry of outsiders. Today DSP (Special Branch) Nimai Chowdhury said that the MP was stopped as per court orders.
The MP tweeted in Hindi, “Like every year, I was going to the temple to perform Puja on the occasion of Shri Hanuman Janmotsav following a formal invitation, but the police stopped me, citing an order from the High Court that stated that no outsiders could attend the programme. Are Regional MPs outsiders for Mamta Banerjee’s government? she asked.
संकटमोचक श्री हनुमान जन्मोत्सव में हर वर्ष की भांति इस बार औपचारिक आमंत्रण के बाद गई तब पुलिस उच्च न्यायालय के उसे आदेश का हवाला दे रही है जिसमें लिखा है कोई भी Outsiders कार्यक्रम में नहीं जा सकता। क्या ममता बनर्जी की सरकार में क्षेत्रीय सांसद Outsiders है। pic.twitter.com/T0eIBK9QOp
— Locket Chatterjee (@me_locket) April 6, 2023
She was stopped at Bansberia Boropara intersection in the district around half a kilometre away from the venue. She had argued with police stating that as an MP from the area she can’t be called outsider, but the police didn’t budge. After that she along with her supporters sat on a dharna on the road.
The Calcutta High Court had mandated that central forces be deployed in the state in order to prevent any adverse incident on Hanuman Jayanti. Following the high court’s recommendation, three companies of the central forces were stationed in some areas of Kolkata, Hooghly, and Barrackpore on Thursday to assist the state police to maintain the law and order situation.
