Police officer manhandled during clash in Bengal, 20 held

Suri (WB), Jan 28 (PTI) Twenty people were arrested and three firearms seized from them after an armed gang manhandled a police officer at Suri in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Tuesday.

A senior police official said the gang entered Mallikpur village near Suri, the district headquarters town, and as they threatened locals, a clash ensued.

Police personnel went to the area and arrested one person for brandishing a firearm to terrorise the villagers, the official said.

Soon after, other members of the group manhandled an officer of the local police station and tried to snatch the arrested man.

Other villagers present at the spot tied up the men who manhandled the police officer as reinforcement reached there and brought the situation under control.

Twenty people, including 13 women, were arrested while three firearms and six rounds of ammunition were seized from them, he said.

While some locals claimed shots were fired in the air during the clash, the official said there was no such information.

The clash was the result of a land dispute in the area, he said.

Local BJP leaders said the violence was the fallout of infighting between two factions of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said it was a village dispute and not a case of infighting. PTI SUS COR NN