Tension began to simmer in Kakdwip, South 24-Parganas, two days after the alleged desecration of an idol of goddess Kali, as police arrested a villager, Narayan Haldar, for the act.

The arrest of Haldar, 25, a resident of Uttar Chandrapur village in the Harwood Coastal point area of Kakdwip, has embarrassed the Bengal BJP, which on Wednesday had taken to social media handles and accused members of a particular community of desecrating the idol.

Taking to his X handle to describe the desecration, leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday wrote: “...Jehadis chopped off the head of Maa Kali and went off.”

The desecration, which occurred at a temple under Suryanagar Gram Panchayat on Wednesday morning, triggered widespread anger among locals. Villagers placed the damaged idol on NH12, blocking the highway.

Police officers tried to persuade the crowd to lift the blockade and to protect the sanctity of the deity, but repeated appeals failed. As tempers flared, a section of protesters began pelting stones, forcing the police to use mild force to disperse them and clear the road for ambulances and stranded vehicles.

A police officer said in face of protest, the idol was put inside a police van, which drew criticism from Adhikari. “In the end, Mamata Bandopadhyay’s police took away Maa Kali in a prison van,” Adhikari wrote on X handle.

After the police managed to disperse protesters, they took the idol for immersion in the police van. The police later lodged two separate cases — one related to the desecration of the idol and another for obstruction on the highway.

On Thursday, Koteswara Rao, superintendent of police, Sundarbans police district, briefed reporters about Haldar’s arrest.

Acting on local intelligence inputs, police soon identified Haldar as the person responsible for the desecration.

“A team was sent to the area, and Narayan Haldar was arrested. During interrogation, he confessed to his crime and apologised for his actions. He was found to be in an inebriated state at the time of the incident,” the SP said, repeating that “the sanctity of Maa Kali is of utmost importance to us.”

However, BJP leaders questioned the police version.

BJP leader Rahul Sinha said: “Investigation is still underway and the police have made the arrested person a scapegoat. The desecration has been done by Trinamool supporters.”

The police have maintained that there was no communal angle and described the incident as an individual’s act of vandalism committed under the influence of alcohol.

Additional forces have been deployed in the area to maintain peace and prevent any further disturbance.

Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh attacked the BJP for trying to communalise and vitiate the atmosphere.

“BJP leaders tried to communalise the heinous act of desecration of the idol. I have heard that the person who has been arrested is a member of the Bharatiya Janata
Yuva Morcha.”

Taking to his social media handle, CPM leader Srijan Bhattacharya also attacked the BJP on the Kakdwip issue.

Noting the arrest of Haldar for the desecration of the idol of goddess Kali, Bhattacharya listed several instances when the BJP tried to allude such attacks on Hindu religious entities to a particular community “with the obvious intent to trigger riots”.

“This is why we ask people to be cautious of the BJP. Hope, Hindu brothers and sisters will understand,” Bhattacharya wrote.