Nov 24, 2007, 15:31 GMT
Kolkata, Nov 24 (IANS) Kolkata Police Saturday arrested All India Minority Forum (AIMF) leader Idris Ali, who started the protest against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen this week that turned violent leading to deployment of the army in the city.
The Detective Department of Kolkata Police arrested him on charges of rioting and destroying government property.
'Idris Ali has been arrested for rioting and destroying government property. He would be produced in a court Sunday,' Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) Vishal Garg told IANS.
Asked whether there was any charge of conspiracy against him, he said there was no such charge as of now.
'We are investigating into the case but it would not be proper to comment immediately without any evidence,' Garg said.
Police said Ali, a Congress leader, was arrested by the Park Street police station Saturday evening and taken to the Lalbazar central lock-up.
Ali was earlier suspended by the Congress for his role in the violence.
A directionless protest called by AIMF had Wednesday turned Kolkata into a scene of flaming vehicles and scampering schoolchildren, forcing deployment of army in the city after nearly 15 years.
The call for a road blockade to demand expulsion of Nasreen and protest Nandigram atrocities went out of hand as thousands of frenzied people from central Kolkata's Muslim-inhabited areas unleashed a free-for-all for hours. Several media persons and cops were injured in the attack.
© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service
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