17 arrested after TMC, ISF workers clash in Kolkata, Police resort to lathicharge
Workers of the Indian Secular Front, or ISF, were lathicharged by the police in Kolkata’s Esplanade area this evening as they blocked roads in the area. ISF claimed they were attacked by the Trinamool Congress workers on their way to a rally in the area and demanded the arrest of Trinamool leader Arabul Islam for orchestrating an earlier attack on them this morning.
Kolkata police began the lathicharge after traffic came to a standstill due to the road blockade. ISF workers also allegedly threw stones at the police, who had to use tear gas shells to disperse the crowd and tackle the situation.
Seventeen people were arrested by the police, while ISF leader and MLA Noushad Siddiqui was detained.
The Indian Secular Front, floated by Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui just ahead of the 2021 Bengal assembly elections, was celebrating its foundation day today. Hundreds of party workers gathered in the Esplanade area to mark the day.
Earlier in the day, workers of the TMC and the ISF clashed in the state’s south 24 pargana’s Bhangar area when members of the ISF were on their way to Kolkata. ISF workers allegedly torched a Trinamool party office during the clashes.
