AMN /
KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that the mob violence in West Bengal’s Malda district was not a communal incident but a clash between local people and the Border Security Force or BSF.
Breaking silence over the incident at Malda’s Kaliachak for days, Ms Banerjee today responded to a media question, saying, “That’s different. It was a BSF versus people struggle. State was not involved. It was not a communal programme.”
“I think you should not ask this question. That is distorted, misinformed. What happened there was a fight between people and BSF. That is not within party, state government or police. We managed the situation.”
The BSF declined to comment on the remarks.
On Sunday, thousands of Muslim protesters took out a procession at Kaliachak against a hate speech by a right wing leader in Uttar Pradesh in December. The demonstrators then went on a rampage, setting a police station and several vehicles on fire. One person sustained a bullet injury.