The police has made the 24th arrest in the Azad Maidan riot case on Thursday, after it picked up Allah Rakha Shaukiya, who was seen wielding the gun that was stolen from a policeman.
According to the police, Shaukiya, a resident of Jogeshwari and a salesman at an electronics shop in Musafir Khana, had stopped reporting to work since Saturday. After Shaukiya’s photograph was published in newspapers on Thursday, the local police received a tip-off from residents that led to his arrest.
“Shaukiya was part of a group that was seen wielding a stolen gun. While he claimed that he had not snatched the rifle, we will be questioning them further. Shaukiya lives in the Anand Nagar slums in Jogeshwari, and was picked up by officers from the Oshiwara police station,” said a senior crime branch officer.
The officer said that a 30 to 35 minutes documentary was made from the footage available during the riots. “Officers from all police stations in the city were shown this documentary, and were asked to track down the rioters. Shaukiya’s photograph was published in newspapers, and helped in the arrest,” the officer said.
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Buddhadeb: ‘anarchy’ in bengal
PARWEZ HAFEEZ
Kolkata, Aug. 16
Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhatta-charjee on Thursday slammed chief minister Mamata Banerjee for threatening the judiciary and allowing the anti-socials to roam free in the state. “The less said about the law and order the better. It has gone out of control. There is total anarchy prevailing in the state. The state government is threatening the judiciary and the judges while the anti-socials are having a free run,” he added. Mr Bhattacharjee was speaking at the completion of 50th year by CPI(M)’s weekly mouthpiece Desh Hityoshi.
Mr Bhattacharjee claimed that the situation in the state was grim. “The people are now realising what has happened. There is no need for us to make speeches. The people can now distinguish between the black and white wiser by their personal experience,” he added.
Admitting that the poor had deserted the CPI(M), the former chief minister said that he was confident that his party would win back their confidence through mass movements. “We will have to convince them that they have no real friend except the red flag,” he said.
Mr Bhattacharjee criticised the state government for trying to arm twist the media into supporting it.