“Today, we have started removing the barricades and we believe it will be over by this evening. We are also getting the roads repaired, which were damaged because of the putting up of barricades,” Debabrata Das, additional SP, Bidhannagar, told The Indian Express. All the 15-20 policemen deployed at the fortifications will also be removed, he said.

The state government had put up the barricades for Basu, who enjoyed Z-plus security. After the death of the Communist veteran, there were demands from all quarters, including the Trinamool Congress, for removal of the barricade as it caused much inconvenience to traffic.

Minister for Urban Development Ashok Bhattacharya, who visited the area on January 25, had assured that the state government has decided to remove the barricade as it was no longer needed.

The Trinamool Congress welcomed the move. “We have long been demanding the removal of the barricades as it caused so many accidents here leading to even death. And now since the man for whom the barricades were put up is no more, it was a right decision of the government to remove the hurdles. Moreover, it was also needed because the work of setting up the East-West Metro corridor is also going on there,” Debashis Jana, Trinamool Congress leader in Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, told The Indian Express.