A road construction project at Pathra gram panchayat in Diamond Harbour II Block turned into a bone of contention between villagers and the workers leading to clashes between them on Tuesday. At least 15 people,including five policemen,were injured in the clashes. The administration had to rope in RAF when locals resisted the police and started hurling bombs at them. They also broke the windows of six state buses and torched the jeep of the first police enforcement that went to the site. Police have arrested 15 people in connection with the clashes. The incident occurred when workers were trying to lay down a road before the ensuing monsoon to protect it from being washed away during the rains. However,some people felt that the road was being built on their land and clashes ensued, said Siddhartha Shankar Chakrabarty,SDO,Diamond Harbour. The road project is a part of the NREGS and works were on to strengthen it before Monsoon arrives. Police were sent to the area at around 11.30 am. The situation is now under control, added Chakrabarty. Locals said that many villagers protested against the using of a portion of their land for the construction work. Chakrabarty said,This is not a case of land acquisition and there was no trouble because of that. There had been problems with this road even earlier and work had stopped for a while although we had spoken to the village pradhan regarding it. He also added that the clashes had nothing to do with Trinamool-CPM rivalry in the area.
