Kolkata, Apr 18: A total of 315 arrests have been made so far in connection with the communal violence in Murshidabad district of West Bengal over protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act last week, including two minors, confirmed the West Bengal Police in its report, which has been prepared under an order of a special division bench of Calcutta High Court.

As per the report signed by the additional director general (law & order) Jawed Shamim, a total of 315 people have so far been arrested for their involvement in the unrest, with ongoing efforts to identify and apprehend others responsible for instigating violence.

In the same report, it was mentioned that none of the arrested persons, except two minors, had been released on bail till date.

In the report, it was also mentioned that the police have so far blocked a total of 1,257 uniform resource locators (URLs) for spreading misinformation and rumours.

The annexures to the reports stated that violence started on April 8, 2025, from an agitation programme against the Waqf (Amendment) Act at the PWD ground under Raghunathganj Police Station.

In the report, it was stated that on that afternoon, the crowd became unruly all of a sudden and started vandalising government and public property as well as physically assaulting the police personnel. The report also stated that the miscreants were also carrying deadly weapons and they also snatched arms and ammunition from the on-duty police.

In the report, it was mentioned that there were inputs from the district intelligence branch of the possibility of an agitations programme on April 11 by some “local people” after the Jumma prayer at Umarpur under Raghunathganj Police Station, Sajur More under Suti Police Station and Old Dukbangalow More under Samserganj Police station.

This statement in the report specifying the involvement of “local people” to a great extent refuted the earlier claims by the state government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that “outsiders” were involved behind the communal violence in those pockets in Murshidabad district for almost the entire last week. The statement has also raised questions on whether the inputs from the district intelligence branch were taken lightly to a great extent.

In the report, it has also been mentioned that Hindu families residing at Ghoshpara area under Samserganj Police Station were specifically targeted on April 12 by a group of protesters against the Waqf (Amendment) Act who gathered near a local mosque.

“On the very next day (12/04/2025) information was received that one agitated mob gathered near Kanchantala Masjid and tried to vandalise houses of Hindu families in Ghoshpara under Samserganj PS,” the annexure to the police report read.

In fact, Calcutta High Court’s special division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, which ordered the deployment of central armed police forces (CAPF) personnel at Murshidabad on the April 12 evening, observed that the measures taken by the West Bengal government to control communal unrest were inadequate. The division bench also observed that had the CAPF deployment been earlier, the situation would not have been so “grave” and “volatile”.

--IANS

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