Kolkata, April 2 (IANS) At least 14 people were arrested for assaulting police personnel during a dispute concerning road construction in Suri, located in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place late Wednesday night when a road was being constructed in Kankuria village in Suri.

According to the police, there was already an issue over road construction in the area due to a land dispute. The road construction company started using JCB, which led to an argument between the villagers and the company. Soon, it escalated into a fight. Initially, after receiving the information, the police force led by Inspector in Charge (IC) Shailenda Upadhyay of Suri police station reached the spot.

Allegedly, at that time, a section of the villagers started throwing bricks and stones at the police. Police vehicles were extensively vandalised. Several police personnel were injured in the attack by the villagers.

The IC, Shailenda Upadhyay, was seriously injured. He was quickly rescued and taken to Suri Sadar Hospital. Following the incident, a large number of police and Central forces reached the spot. At the same time, two companies of the Central forces also arrived to control the situation.

In this regard, a top police official of Birbhum district said, “We have arrested 14 people in connection with this incident. Among them, several are women. Several of our police personnel have been injured. They are admitted to the hospital. Strict action will be taken against the accused who were responsible for orchestrating the attack on police personnel.”

It may be noted that the state police were severely criticised for not using Central forces jawans following reports of violence in various places across the state. However, in Wednesday’s incident, Central force personnel were quickly dispatched to control the situation. The Central forces were used to arrest the 14 people who were involved in attacking the police personnel.

–IANS

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