[1] The riots occurred in the Canning subdivision, after a Muslim cleric was stopped and killed by half dozen unidentified assailants near Nalekhali.
[3] On 19 February 2013, shortly after midnight, Indian Standard Time, a Muslim imam from Ghutiari Sharif in Canning subdivision was returning from a religious congregation at Jamtala in Jaynagar, in a motorcycle along with a colleague.
[5] Thousands of people from neighbouring areas, such as Canning, Jibantala, Sarengabad, Jhorormore, Narayanpur, and Dhoaghata gathered on the site and refused to part with the body of cleric.
Protesters staged a rail blockage at Ghutiari Sharif station in the Sonarpur-Canning section of the Sealdah South lines.
[6][10] At around 11 a.m., the South 24 Parganas District Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar Tripathi, reached the spot along with a massive riot squad and Rapid Action Force battalions.
[11] In the violence, more than 200 houses were burnt in several villages that came under the jurisdictions of the Canning, Jaynagar, Kultali and Basanti police stations, displacing more than 2,000 people.
from Magrahat West constituency Giasuddin Molla accused the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian National Congress of fomenting trouble in the state before the panchayat elections.
[6] Political observers have linked the violence to the forthcoming panchayat elections in the region, where the Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are trying to woo Muslim voters in the district.