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Kolkata, Feb 8 (IANS) Three more people have been held in connection with the clash between two groups in the Golpark area of Kolkata, police said on Sunday.

With this, the number of arrests in this incident has now risen to 23.

However, Biswajit Poddar alias Sona Pappu, whom locals claimed was the main accused, has been at large.

Locals were questioning why Pappu had not yet been arrested.

On Saturday night, officers from Rabindra Sarobar police station arrested three young men, Sougata Basu, Mintu Bhanja and Prabir Pramanik.

Sougata and Mintu were residents of the Kasba police station area, while Prabir resides in the Rabindra Sarobar area in south Kolkata.

Police said that investigations revealed that the three were involved in the crime on the night of February 1.

According to the police, the arrested were being questioned to find the whereabouts of Sona Pappu, who has gone underground after the incident.

Last Sunday, a clash broke out between two groups on Kakulia Road in the Golpark under the Rabindra Sarobar police station area in Kolkata.

In the aftermath of the incident, the names of Pappu and his gang repeatedly came up in the reactions of locals. A section of the locals alleged that Pappu's gang is responsible for instigating the trouble in the area.

Meanwhile, three FIRs have been registered at the Rabindra Sarobar police station. This includes a suo motu case for the attack on a police vehicle.

According to local and police sources, the trouble started around 8.30 p.m. last week when a clash broke out between two groups during a club picnic at Panchanantala near Golpark.

A clash broke out between two groups there. It is learnt that the conflict was between a group of local businessman Bapi Halder, and the Sona Pappu gang.

Bapi is known to the residents as a businessman. These locals claimed that Sona Pappu's gang is trying to seize control of the area, and that is why they are targeting Bapi.

It is alleged that approximately 100-150 miscreants, with their faces covered with handkerchiefs, attacked the area. There were also allegations of firing and hurling crude bombs. Sharp weapons were also used in the attack.

Police vehicles and locals' motorcycles were vandalised on the street. Bricks were also thrown at each other. That same night, the police recovered bullet casings and bomb fragments from the road.

--IANS

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