Police entered South City Residency on Diwali night and seized firecrackers they claimed were “banned”, triggering protests from residents, who alleged police “excesses” and forced the release of a resident being taken away in a police van.

A purported video of the incident from Monday shows a group of men and women confronting the police and freeing a man from the van inside which the officers had come. The police were also seen seizing firecrackers during the operation.

The man who was removed from the van is a tenant at South City Residency, housing complex sources said.

Residents of the complex claimed they had been bursting green crackers within the stipulated time window of 8pm to 10pm, and objected to the police intervention.

“Like every other year, residents were bursting crackers. There is a police post near the designated area in the complex for bursting them. That evening, a spark from a cracker accidentally hit a policeman and burned his T-shirt. Our residents gave him first aid immediately, and the matter seemed to be over,” said Debasish Basu, secretary of the housing society.

“But around 8.45pm, a police van with a larger team entered the complex and began confiscating crackers. We don’t know if the two incidents are connected or what prompted the sudden action,” secretary Basu said.

Another resident alleged “high-handedness” by the police. “All crackers were being burst within the permitted hours, and the ones that were seized were green crackers,” the resident said.

The police, however, maintained that the crackers did not have QR codes, which are used to certify green firecrackers, and hence were considered banned.

Deputy commissioner (south suburban division) of Kolkata Police, Bidisha Kalita, said on Wednesday: “We have been facing a lot of resistance, especially in housing complexes. Before the festive season, we took several measures to spread awareness of government regulations — meetings with housing society representatives, miking, and displaying orders at prominent locations. Still, many people flout the guidelines, and we have to take legal action. Unless people’s mindset changes, enforcement becomes extremely difficult.”

Previously, green crackers came with QR codes to verify authenticity. This year, however, the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) discontinued QR codes and insteaduploaded a list of 1,403 certified manufacturers on its website.

Kalita did not comment specifically on the natureof the firecrackers thatwere seized from South City Residency on the night of Diwali.