BJP leaders get bail, seven workers sent to police custody in Bengal

Kolkata, May 26 (IANS) A court here on Friday granted bail to all senior BJP leaders including its national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh, and Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly, but remanded seven party workers to police custody till Monday in connection with disturbances during its protest here a day back.

A total of 135 Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and workers were presented before the Bankshall Court, a day after the party's activists clashed with security personnel here during a protest march to the city police headquarters Lalbazar.

All the BJP leaders and workers were arrested on Thursday and spent the night in the Lalbazar police lock up.

State BJP secretary Locket Chatterjee, a former actress, also secured bail.

Altogether 128 BJP leaders and workers were bailed out on Friday, but seven others were remanded to police custody till May 29 for their alleged involvement in specific cases relating to destruction of public property, rioting and hurling bombs.

Moving the bail plea, the defence counsel said no bombs were seized from the arrested workers. They were arrested first, and the bombs seized only later.

Wondering why the workers - if they at all wanted to create lawlessness - would burst only one bomb, counsel said it was a political agitation, but police carried out a "ruthless" baton charge.

"The police claim bricks were thrown at them, but they have made no such seizure. There is no evidence that those seven protesters were throwing bombs," counsel said.

Opposing the bail prayer, the public prosecutor said for maintenance of law and order, the protestors were arrested first, as the topmost priority of the police is to save people's lives.

The prosecutor said the accused were detained after the incident, but the case was started only after a specific enquiry.

"There are several non-bailable sections. So those under such sections need to be interrogated to go into the depth of the case," he added.

After listening to both sides, the judge sent the seven workers to police remand and gave bail to 128 others including the top leaders.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)