Bengal Police used lathi-charge to disperse a group of people who were protesting after they were denied Covid-19 vaccines by a local health center in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.

West Bengal Police on Thursday lathi-charged people protesting over irregularities in the Covid-19 vaccination in the North 24 Parganas district’s Ashoknagar. The incident happened after authorities at local health refused to vaccinate people with the first dose.

On Thursday morning, people gathered at the vaccination center in Ashoknagar primary health center. However, the authorities informed them that only 200 people, who were due to get their second doses, would receive the jab.

The others, who had queued up to take the first dose, argued that they received Thursday’s date after registering their names on Cowin. The initial brawl eventually led to sloganeering by the angry protesters. They followed it up by blocking the Ashoknagar-Naihati road, leading to traffic disruptions in the region.

Failing to control the situation, the health authorities called the police. The situation soon turned violent when the police tried to lift the road blockade. The protesters refused to end their demonstration and kept demanding that they be vaccinated.

Later, the police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mob. As a result, many of the vaccine seekers were left injured and had to be taken to the hospital.

incidentally, for the last couple of days, many people in the region have been waiting at several vaccination centers to get jabbed. But most of them failed to get inoculated, leading to agitations before the local MLA. However, the condition has remained unchanged.