West Bengal: 40 arrested after communal clashes in South 24 Parganas

Forty persons have been arrested after communal clashes broke out in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday, The Hindu reported.

The clashes erupted between members of the Hindu and Muslim communities over a dispute involving a temporary shop in the Rabindranagar area in Maheshtala, which borders Kolkata.

“Initially, police tried to calm down the situation, but it escalated with stone pelting in the area,” The Indian Express quoted unidentified police officers as saying, adding that shops were also vandalised.