Police stopped a forum of rights groups formed to protest the Narendra Modi government’s citizenship matrix from taking out a march at Bhangar in South 24-Parganas on Sunday, saying no permission had been granted for the procession.

Functionaries of the Joint Forum Against NRC said a local Trinamul Congress leader had come forward and asked them to stop the march and when they had refused, he had called up police.

Within minutes, Bhangar police arrived and did not allow the forum members to take out the march.

“We had written to the officer-in-charge of Bhangar police station about the rally. The police had given us verbal permission. They did not give us anything in writing. But when we were about to begin our rally today, the police came and stopped us,” said Prasenjit Bose, one of the convenors of the forum.

About 80 people had assembled at the Ghatakpukur crossing in Bhangar for the rally. “Police officers said the rally couldn’t be allowed in the backdrop of violence in Delhi. They said our rally might create law-and-order problems. But when we asked them to give us in writing the reason for stopping the rally, they refused,” said Bose.

A Bhangar police officer said the forum did not have permission to organise the rally and that was why the march had been stopped.

Bose, however, sought to refute the police’s version. “We have submitted a letter to the police station, but they did not give us any receipt. They verbally said we could go ahead with the rally. The police are lying,” he said.

This is the second time in three days that the forum was disallowed from organising marches against the CAA, NPR and the nation-wide NRC.

A rally from Deuli Bazaar in Canning, South 24-Parganas, had been stopped before it started on Friday.

“This is a planned way to prevent us from holding rallies,” Bose said.

The forum is scheduled to take out a march from Hatiara in North 24-Parganas to Census office in Salt Lake on Thursday, where they would also submit a deputation.

The forum had planned to organise several rallies in Baruipur, Barasat and Basirhat to make people aware of why the citizenship matrix must be opposed.

“We had planned to hold these rallies between February 28 and March 5 because this is the window when restrictions during Madhyamik are withdrawn and before the restrictions for higher secondary exams come into effect,” he said.