Congress team to visit riot-hit Bengal town on Tuesday

Kolkata, July 10 (IANS) The Congress on Monday said a party delegation will visit the communal violence-hit Baduria in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday as the situation there has now normalised.

"The situation in Baduria is normal now. So, there is no reason for not going there. We would send a party delegation there on Tuesday to assess the condition of affected families in the region," state Congress President Adhir Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury said his party's North 24 Parganas district leadership has handed over a letter to the district authorities, seeking permission to visit the violence-affected areas.

Taking a swipe at the state administration for not letting the team in Baduria on July 7, the Congress leader said political activities were important in the region to bring back the normal democratic environment.

"Political activities and engagements are necessary to bring back normalcy in the region. The police unnecessarily barred us from going there. We wanted to assure the locals of safety and tell them that we are with them in their tough times," Chowdhury added.

The situation in the riot-hit Baduria town remained peaceful on Monday as no untoward incidents had been reported so far, the police said.

The shops were open and people came out on the streets amid tight security and vigil by the state police and paramilitary forces.

Clashes broke out between the members of two communities in Baduria last week after a provocative social media post went viral.

Although the youth involved with the social post was arrested and the post deleted, trouble broke out and spread to several areas, with trees felled to put up road blockades, vehicles, including those of police, and houses torched, and shops damaged.

A number of police personnel were injured in the clashes and the central government rushed 400 paramilitary personnel to the area to control the situation.