Last Updated:
Violent protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Murshidabad led to three deaths, injuries to several policemen, and widespread arson. Security forces have restored order, with 150 arrests.
Murshidabad: BSF personnel interact with locals as they guard in a violence-hit area at Jangipur (Photo: PTI)
Parts of West Bengal’s Murshidabad, which witnessed violent protests over the weekend over the Waqf (Amendment) Act, remain tense with paramilitary forces patrolling parts of the district.
As many as 150 people have so far been arrested as raids continued overnight.
The situation, meanwhile, has been brought under control, as state Governor CV Ananda Bose said he was holding regular discussions with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while the Centre was monitoring the situation in the Muslim-majority district.
On Monday, a high-level delegation of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) visited Murshidabad and met Hindu families living in a temporary shelter at a school.
In a video shared by party spokesperson Vinod Bansal, locals could be seen sharing their ordeal.
A high level delegation of VHP Uttar Bang prant lead by the state president Shri Narayan Mandal alongwith the state organising secretary Shri Anoop Mandal meet the Murshidabad Hindus living in a temporary shelter at Palarpur High school, P.S. Bosnob nagar, Maldha pic.twitter.com/WuK1SPFg9n— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal বিনোদ বনসল వినోద్ బన్సాల్ (@vinod_bansal) April 14, 2025
Several vehicles, including police vans, were set on fire, stones were hurled at security forces and shops, and police kiosks burnt down during the rampage.
As the protesters were dispersed, personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) accompanied by state armed police and RAF conducted route marches along the national highway and nearby alleys and bylanes.
MURSHIDABAD VIOLENCE: THE DEATH TOLL
The violence claimed the lives of three people, while many others were injured.
Main areas that witnessed violence were Suti, Dhulian, Samserganj and Jangipur, and there were no reports of any fresh incident from anywhere in the district.
The bodies of a man and his son were found with multiple stab wounds at their home in Samserganj.
A 21-year-old man also died on Saturday after receiving bullet wounds during clashes in Suti on Friday.
At least 18 policemen were also injured in the violence.
There were reports that a youth was shot at and injured near his residence at Dhulian. The police, however, did not confirm it.
MURSHIDABAD VIOLENCE: RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE
Meanwhile, prohibitory orders under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) remain in force in the violence-hit pockets where the roads wore a deserted look and shops downed their shutters.
The internet remains suspended in the affected areas while security forces are conducting checks on vehicles along the main roads.
“The situation in Suti, Dhulian, Samserganj and Jangipur areas of the district is peaceful. Raids continued overnight, and 12 more people were arrested. With this, 150 people have been arrested so far,” news agency PTI quoted a senior police officer as saying.
BJP, TMC IN WAR OF WORDS
On Sunday, senior state BJP leaders Suvendu Adhikari, Sukanta Majumdar Dilip Ghosh and judge-turned-MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay walked in a rally in Kolkata to protest the “appeasement politics” of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Adhikari said his party will also seek a CBI investigation into the killing of a man and his son in Samserganj.
Several residents fled the violence-hit areas by crossing the Bhagirathi River and reached Malda.
“More than 400 Hindus from Dhulian, Murshidabad driven by fear of religiously driven bigots were forced to flee across the river & take shelter at Par Lalpur High School, Deonapur-Sovapur GP, Baisnabnagar, Malda. Religious persecution in Bengal is real,” Adhikari claimed in an X post.
“Appeasement politics of TMC has emboldened radical elements. Hindus are being hunted, our people are running for their lives in their own land! Shame on the State Govt for allowing this breakdown of law & order,” he claimed.
Majumdar, in an X post, calls the protesters “jihadi groups” and said they were “under the pretence of protesting against the Waqf Amendment Act” and were “continuously attempting to erase the existence of Hindus and are even throwing petrol bombs at the BSF jawans”.
“Bapi Halder, the Trinamool MP from Mathurapur constituency, has issued a terrifying threat — to gouge out eyes and break limbs!,” he wrote on X.
The fanatical, fundamentalist jihadi groups who, under the pretense of protesting against the Waqf Amendment Act, are continuously attempting to erase the existence of Hindus and are even throwing petrol bombs at the @BSF_India jawans—who is directly supporting them? This… pic.twitter.com/HZ5oiSWqIF— Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) April 13, 2025
BJP MP Jyotirmay Singh Mahato wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and demanded imposing of AFSPA in Murshidabad and three other districts – Malda, Nadia and South 24 Parganas – in view of the prevailing situation.
Meanwhile, the ruling TMC cried conspiracy claiming that the BJP is flooding social media with fake photos and videos depicting violence in Bengal, which were actually incidents that happened in other states.
TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh alleged that a large section of rioters had been allowed to sneak into Murshidabad through the Indo-Bangla border and said the role of BSF is not above suspicion in the violence.
Sharing a post of the state BJP containing photographs depicting violence during nine Hindu festivals “in West Bengal”, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarka Ghose claimed in an X post that none of those incidents happened in the state, listing the specific locations.
“This is BJP’s campaign of lies, communal polarisation, and politics of incitement,” she claimed and urged the police to take action.