Bengal: Howrah ADM to also hold charge as Commissioner of Howrah Municipal Corporation

The Additional District Magistrate of Howrah, Dhaval Jain, has been given the additional charge of Commissioner of Howrah Municipal Corporation until further orders, according to the orders issued by the West Bengal government on Wednesday.

The development comes after two police personnel were injured in an attack by a mob when they tried to disperse a crowd at a marketplace in Tikiapara of Howrah on Tuesday. The crowd which had gathered in the market defying the lockdown, pelted stones at police officials following which heavy police force and Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in the area.

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The state police said that it was taking strong action against the people involved in the incident.  The West Bengal Police tweeted that it is taking strong action against everyone involved in the incident. "No transgression of the law anywhere will be tolerated," it added. 

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Locals pelt stones at police personnel

A huge crowd of locals in West Bengal's Howrah district had chased and pelted stones at police officials on duty. The crowd had gathered in the Tikiyapara area violating the lockdown imposed. As soon as the police confronted the crowd, a scuffle broke out with the crowd attacking officials. Videos surfaced showing the crowd chasing officials and pelting bottles and stones at the police personnel. The crowd vandalised a police car too, however, no injuries have been reported yet. 

The incident comes even as Howrah has been recognised as a Red Zone and a complete lockdown has been imposed in the area. The police have also launched a week-long 'Operation Covid Zero' to combat the rising number of cases. As per the media bulletin released on Monday night, there are a total of 504 active COVID-19 cases in the state while a total of 109 have been discharged. 20 deaths due to the virus have been reported in the state.

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(with ANI inputs)