By Joydeep Sarkar
Katwa (Purba Bardhaman): Just three days after the Bharatiya Janata Party government was sworn in in West Bengal, in Katwa town of Purba Bardhaman district, four Muslim men were brutally beaten and then handed over to the police by senior BJP leaders who were accompanied by members of the Bajrang Dal. The attackers suspected that the four men were smuggling cattle.
Katwa is an ancient town where residents are usually keen to highlight communal harmony. The incident has stunned locals, who have trouble reconciling the violence with the history of the town.
Former Katwa MLA and Trinamool Congress leader Rabindranath Chattopadhyay told The Wire: “Look at this. Their government has just taken oath, and already they are taking the law into their own hands. Such a shameful incident has never happened in our town before. I never imagined something like this could happen.”
What happened on May 12?
Rahul Dutta, a young man from Katwa’s Madhaitola locality, identified himeslf as an eye-witness to this reporter.
“Around noon, a group of five people were taking 15–20 cattle along the main road towards the nearby Ganga bank. Suddenly, a group of people who had gathered there surrounded them and started raining blows on them. The assault went on for a long time,” Dutta said.
One of the five managed to escape. The attackers then made the four of them sit by the side of the road, near a local clubhouse and called the police, Dutta said. By then, all four of them were visibly injured and bleeding. After police arrived, the four were subjected to more beatings, another local, who requested not to be named, said.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
