Kolkata– A total of 315 people, including two minors, have been arrested in connection with the recent communal violence in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, according to a detailed report submitted by the West Bengal Police to the Calcutta High Court.
The report, prepared under the directive of a special division bench of the High Court and signed by Additional Director General (Law & Order) Jawed Shamim, confirmed the arrests stemming from unrest that followed protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act. Efforts are ongoing to identify and apprehend additional individuals responsible for inciting the violence.
The report also noted that, with the exception of the two minors, none of those arrested had been granted bail as of yet.
In response to the spread of misinformation and inflammatory content online, the police have blocked a total of 1,257 URLs.
According to annexures in the report, the violence began on April 8, 2025, during a protest at the PWD Grounds under Raghunathganj Police Station. What started as a demonstration escalated quickly into chaos, with protestors allegedly vandalizing public property, assaulting police officers, and wielding deadly weapons. Some reportedly seized arms and ammunition from on-duty law enforcement personnel.
The report also highlighted intelligence warnings of further agitation on April 11 following Jumma prayers at multiple locations—including Umarpur (Raghunathganj PS), Sajur More (Suti PS), and Old Dukbangalow More (Samserganj PS). These inputs indicated the likelihood of unrest by “local people,” a detail that appears to contradict earlier statements by the West Bengal government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had claimed the violence was the result of interference by “outsiders.”
This contradiction raises questions about whether district intelligence warnings were adequately addressed by state authorities ahead of the outbreak of violence.
Further, the report confirmed that on April 12, Hindu families in the Ghoshpara area under the jurisdiction of Samserganj Police Station were specifically targeted. Protesters opposing the Waqf (Amendment) Act allegedly gathered near Kanchantala Masjid and attempted to vandalize homes in the Hindu-majority neighborhood.
The situation prompted a strong response from the Calcutta High Court. On April 12, a special division bench comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury ordered the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in Murshidabad, criticizing the state government’s efforts to contain the unrest. The bench observed that the deployment of central forces could have prevented the situation from becoming so “grave” and “volatile” had it occurred earlier. (Source: IANS)
