Several Left-leaning activists were injured in a scuffle with policemen who lobbed tear gas shells and sprayed water cannon after a DYFI rally demanding jobs from the State government turned violent on Wednesday.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the CPI(M)’s youth wing, called the rally also to demand better price for crops for farmers.
A senior police officer said the DYFI took out the rally without permission and its workers tried to cross the barricades set up by police.
“They also pelted the police with stones. We had to use water cannon to disperse them,” he said.
A DYFI leader said the police also lobbed tear gas shells.
The procession was supposed to reach the Uttarkanya Bhawan, the state secretariat in North Bengal, police said.
When police tried to stop the rally at Siliguri More, the participants turned violent leading to a scuffle leaving several people injured.
DYFI cadres then staged a sit-in.
