Ignoring state administration's ban, BJP team sets off for riot-hit Asansol

"If the administration stops us, we have our ways to get in there," said Roopa Ganguly

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation left Kolkata on Sunday morning to visit the violence-hit areas of Asansol in West Bengal, ignoring the state administration's ban on entering the area.

BJP President Amit Shah set up a four-member committee comprising party Vice President Om Mathur, former Union Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and MPs Roopa Ganguly and B.D. Ram to take stock of the situation of West Bardhaman district's Asansol-Raniganj area where a clash broke out between two communities following a Ram Navami rally.

The state government has beefed up security and issued prohibitory orders in the area.

Told about the order prohibiting visit to the areas, the committee said it did not know about any such ban by the state government.

"We are not told about any ban on visiting the areas. Why do we need permission to go to a place within the country? We are not trying to enter another country by crossing the border," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.

A person was allegedly hacked to death while a Deputy Commissioner of Police lost a hand after getting hit by a bomb during a clash between two groups centring on a Ram Navami procession organised by Sangh affiliates in Raniganj on Monday.

Several shops and houses were vandalised and set ablaze during the clashes.

The police stopped local MP and BJP leader Babul Supriyo from visiting the area a few days back, saying it would add to tension in the area.