Groups of men torched police vehicles and hurled stones on and around Bondel Road on Monday afternoon demanding the custody of a man who has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting and killing a seven-year-old girl.
The child’s body was allegedly found stashed in a gunny bag in the man’s flat on Sunday night.
Train services in the Sealdah suburban section were stalled because of the protests. The demonstrators squatted on the railway tracks between Park Circus and Ballygunge stations. Railway officials said the agitation peaked between 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm.
“Around 15 trains were delayed,” said a railway official. Teams from Kolkata police, Railway Protection Force, fire and emergency services and the Government Railway Police were deployed to diffuse the tension,” he said.
Traffic was disrupted on the Bondel Road flyover, Picnic Garden Road, parts of EM Bypass, CN Roy Road and areas near Park Circus.
“Four persons have been arrested for arson, rioting, assault and destruction of public property. Raids are being carried out to identify the other rioters,” said an officer in the south-east division of the city police.
Another officer who was at the spot during the protests said the mob initially demanded that the accused, Alok Kumar, be handed to them. The number of protesters swelled after the accused was produced in court and remanded in police custody.
They took to the streets near Park Circus and started attacking police officers who tried to stop them.
Commuters walk along railway tracks near Ballygunge station after train services were suspended
A tear gas shell fired near Ballygunge station
A police vehicle damaged by protesters in Tiljala. P
A senior officer at Lalbazar said six police vehicles, including two motorcycles, were set ablaze.
“A few police officers were injured. But no one was critically injured,” said the officer.
Violence erupted on the streets near Bondel flyover hours after news of the arrest of Alok Kumar spread through the neighbourhood on Monday morning.
The police had to lathi-charge protesters and fire tear gas shells to control the situation.
The girl’s body was found several hours after she was reported missing around Sunday noon inside a gunny bag in the flat of Kumar, who lived in the same building as the girl in Kustia’s Shri Dhar Roy Road, the police said.
According to the police, the child had been subjected to sexual assault before she was strangled.
The protesters alleged police inaction in launching a timely search for the seven-year-old.
Protests also erupted after the child’s body was handed to her parents after the post-mortem.