After Ram Navami violence in Raniganj and Asansol, West Bengal police gear up for Hanuman Jayanti

Kolkata: Following violence over Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal, the police are putting in place elaborate arrangements to avoid any untoward incident during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in the state on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_4382171” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Apart from a ban on armed rallies, additional forces will be deployed in each district and police personnel will be placed outside every religious place. “Elaborate arrangements have been made. Police will be deployed in every corner of the state, we will keep a tab on any suspicious movement. No one will be allowed to take out armed rallies,” a senior police officer said in Kolkata. Besides the deployment of additional forces, mobile police teams would patrol the sensitive areas round-the-clock and special monitoring would be done at the Bangladesh border and the inter-state borders, another police official said. “We have reports that those involved in Sunday’s violence (in the Asansol and Raniganj areas of West Burdwan district) were outsiders,” the official said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had held a meeting on Thursday with the state director general of police, ADG (law and order), home secretary and chief secretary. Apart from taking stock of the prevailing situation in Raniganj and Asansol, the chief minister had directed the police to make strict arrangements in order to avoid any untoward incident. Three persons were killed in West Burdwan and Purulia districts and several others, including police personnel, were injured during Ram Navami celebrations.