As violent protests over offensive remarks directed at Prophet Muhammed continued to rage for the third day in West Bengal, State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was on Saturday arrested while he was on his way to Howrah district.
Police tried to dissuade the BJP leader from proceeding to Howrah which has been witnessing violence since Thursday.. but he was insistent. The BJP leader’s convoy was stopped near the toll plaza on Vivekananda Setu and he was arrested. He was taken to Lalbazar Police headquarters in a police vehicle.
Earlier in the day, there was a scuffle between BJP supporters and West Bengal police as they prevented the State BJP president from leaving his residence in Kolkata’s New Town area. Mr. Majumdar had said that the police were trying to put him under house arrest. Soon after the arrest, BJP supporters under the leadership of MLA Agnimitra Paul and Priyanka Tibrewal gathered outside Lalbazar Police Headquarters. Mr. Majumdar along with his supporters was released later in the day. According to Kolkata Police, several BJP supporters were taken in custody as preventive arrest and were later released.
