I-League 2017: Mohun Bagan fan arrested outside stadium, allegedly harassed by police after Kolkata Derby
What’s the story?
A Mohun Bagan supporter was arrested by the local police, after a group of fans confronted the authorities outside the Salt Lake Stadium, during the high-voltage match between arch-rivals Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, on Sunday.
Out of the group, one fan, who was said to have gotten a bit too confrontational with the authorities, was arrested outside the Stadium and kept in lock-up for a few hours at the South Bidhan Nagar Police Station.
In case you didn’t know...
Kolkata Derbies tend to be a highly-charged affair, with emotions running high among both sets of fans. There have been plenty of previous instances of violence among the fans of the two sides, resulting in the beefing-up of security, especially for this fixture.
Heart of the matter
A group of Mohun Bagan fans had come to the Salt Lake Stadium, to watch the Kolkata Derby ahead of the match, carrying huge posters of Green and Maroons captain Sony Norde. However, the security personnel placed at the turnstiles refused to let them in with these posters.
The situation soon snowballed out of control, as the fans confronted the police, who in turn, enforced a ‘lathi-charge’ on them. In the fracas, one of these fans, was arrested by the cops, and taken to the South Bidhan Nagar Police Station.
According to eyewitnesses, the fan who was arrested was kept in custody for a few hours, during which he was harassed by the law enforcement. Throughout this duration, around a 100 fans were said to have been protesting outside the police station.
What’s next?
While the fan in question was soon released by the police, this incident goes down as yet another incident of violence surrounding the Kolkata Derby.
Author’s take
Such instances of violence among fans is a sad thing to see, especially as it is in direct connection with the beautiful game, which tends to get tarnished when these incidents take place.