Bengal: Cop accused of assaulting neighbours over firecracker burning transferred

Kolkata, Oct 23 (IANS) The West Bengal government on Thursday announced the transfer of the district police superintendent of Cooch Behar Dyutiman Bhattacharya who was accused of assaulting his neighbours on Monday evening on the twin occasions of Kali Puja and Diwali.

Bhattacharya reportedly got anguished over his neighbours as the sound of firecrackers burnt by them in front of his bungalow reportedly irritated his pet dog. A video went viral where Bhattacharya and some of his aides were seen coming out of his bungalow and assaulting the neighbours.

On Thursday, the state government issued a notification announcing the transfer of Bhattacharya to a lesser significant post of the commandant of the third battalion of the State Armed Police.

Bhattacharya has been replaced by Sandeep Karra, who is currently the deputy commissioner (west zone) of Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate in West Burdwan district. The new deputy commissioner of (west zone) of Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate will be Sonawane Kuldip Suresh, who is currently the special superintendent of the Intelligence Branch of West Bengal Police.

Although the state government had claimed the transfers to be routine ones, insiders from the state secretariat said that Bhattacharya’s actions on the Kali Puja night had caused embarrassment for the state administration.

In the video, which went viral, Bhattacharya was seen in action wearing shorts and a vest. However, Bhattacharya had denied the allegations since the beginning. He said that he was only objecting to the burning of sound crackers.

Earlier on Thursday, an elderly woman lodged a complaint against five men for beating her up after she objected against bursting of firecrackers late at night. The incident took place in Bhawanipur area in south Kolkata in the early hours of Tuesday.

The elderly woman alleged that she had gone to the police on the same day but the officers refused to register a complaint as it happened to be the night of Kali Puja when it is common for people to burst firecrackers.

However, the woman went to the police station again on Thursday accompanied by a lawyer to lodge the complaint. This time, the police have registered an FIR against five persons based on her complaint. However, no one has been arrested so far in connection with the incident.

It has been learnt that Anupama Chowdhury, a resident of 4B Asutosh Mukherjee Road, alleged that some youth from the neighbourhood were bursting firecrackers at around 1.30 a.m. on the day of Kali Puja which was beyond the permitted hours for bursting crackers.

--IANS

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