Kolkata: Four persons were killed and 12 were injured on Monday as violence broke out over formation of panchayat boards in West Bengal’s Malda, Purulia and North 24-Parganas districts.
While two TMC members were killed in Malda district in a clash reportedly between two factions of the party, two BJP members were shot dead at Ghagra Panchayat in Jaipur Block of Purulia.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said there was some law and order situation in some districts and any violence will not be tolerated.
“This should not happen. I have asked the district administration to tackle the situation. A particular group is targeting police personnel intentionally. One of our police officers was also injured,” she said.
Incidents of violence, clashes and arson have been reported from several parts of the state since August 25, a day after the Supreme Court allowed West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) to declare results of the 20,159 seats, most of which went in favour of the ruling TMC uncontested.
In Malda, about 245km north of Kolkata, Salam Sheikh (20) and Azhar Sheikh (60) received bullet injuries during a clash that erupted reportedly between two factions of TMC in Gopalpur Gram Panchayat at Manikchak area.
Both of them succumbed to their injuries at Malda Medical College and Hospital. In the clash, three-year-old Zeeshan Sheikh and seven others were also injured. All of them were admitted at the same hospital with splinter injuries.
Malda SP Arnab Ghosh along with a large contingent of police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control but remained tight-lipped about who was behind the shooting.
In the recently held Panchayat poll, TMC and Congress had won five seats each to the Gopalpur gram panchayat.
Former minister and TMC block president Manikchak Sabitri Mitra alleged that Congress supporters fired at their workers which led to death of two TMC workers.
“TMC and Congress won five seats each in Gopalpur Gram panchayat but later all the Congress winners joined TMC. Today morning when we were busy with the formation of Panchayat board, Congress goons started terrorizing our workers and fired at them. We have lodged a police complaint,” she said.
Senior Congress leader at Malda Kali Sadhan Roy rubbished the allegations and claimed that they were killed due to infighting in the party.
Violence was also reported from Purulia, where BJP’s Niranjan Gope and Damodar Mondol were allegedly shot dead. The BJP had won eight out of 12 seats here with the TMC bagging the rest.
BJP’s district president Vidyasagar Chakraborty said, “Niranjan was also a Panchayat member and he along with Damodar were brutally killed by TMC goons. We want stern action against the accused.”
Comments
0 comment