CALCUTTA: Police opened fire on rioters who attacked a police patrol with bombs in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta recently, killing one person and injuring three others, authorities said. The violence followed an incident in which three people were killed and seven injured when police fired on Muslim procession. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the interior minister of the government in West Bengal’, of which Calcutta is the capital, said the recent violence occurred in the same area. Crude bombs were hurled at a police patrol and police opened fire to repulse the attackers, he said. A curfew had been imposed in the area but was eased a day later to enable Muslims to attend prayers on the Islamic Sabbath, he said.
The trouble started when Muslims forming a procession to observe the Moharram anniversary refused to follow routes selected by police. Moharram, the anniversary of the martyrdom of a grandson of Prophet Mohammed, was on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Muslims in the procession turned violent and set fire to shops, attacked paramilitary troopers and the local police post, authorities said. Police then opened fire. Two people were killed and seven injured, authorities said at the time. One bullet ridden body was found overnight, they said.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 12, 1996
