Over 100 BJP supporters have taken shelter in the Cooch Behar district party office after their houses were vandalised in the violence that erupted following the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results.
“In the past two to three days, TMC supporters ransacked the houses and shops of around 200 BJP activists. They have also vandalised four offices of our party. Around 100 BJP workers are staying in the district party office now,” Cooch Behar district BJP president Sukumar Roy said.
“Police are acting at the behest of the ruling party and are not accepting our complaints,” he alleged.
Police officers have denied the charge.
On Wednesday night, suspected Trinamool supporters ransacked several shops at prominent locations in Cooch Behar town.
“We have been running the shop for around 20 years but hadn't faced such an attack earlier. Trinamool supporters also looted goods worth around ₹1 lakh,” said Raju Sarkar, whose shop on Biswa Singha Road in the town was vandalised.
Bikash Sutradhar and Binita Tamang, who used to run fast food stalls on the bank of the Laldighi, a prominent water body in the town, faced a similar situation. “Both the stalls were vandalised and the items were thrown into the Laldighi,” said Tamang.
The newly elected Cooch Behar MP, Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia of Trinamool, denied the BJP's charge.
“Our party has given a clear instruction that we will not indulge in violence. BJP is making false claims after its defeat (in the Cooch Behar constituency). If there was an incident of vandalism, it might be the fallout of acute rivalry within the BJP,” said Basunia.
In South Dinajpur, suspected TMC supporters attacked three shops in Gangarampur on Thursday, including the optical shop of the brother of a BJP leader.
Gangarampur is the home town of Biplab Mitra, the TMC candidate who contested from Balurghat and lost to state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar.
Soumya Kanti Adhya, the optical shop owner, said a group of four to five TMC supporters had reached his shop on Thursday afternoon. They vandalised the shop, dragged Adhya out and assaulted him.
“They abused me for voting for the BJP. CCTV cameras were also broken,” he alleged
Satyen Roy, the local BJP MLA, reached the spot. He took Adhya to Gangarampur police station where the shop owner filed a complaint.
“People of Gangarampur have given a lead of around 4,500 votes to Sukanta Majumdar. This has irked Trinamool and so, the party is resorting to such attacks,” said Roy, the MLA.
TMC leaders said none from the party was involved in the vandalism of the optical shop. “It might have happened because of some internal problems. The BJP is trying to politicise it,” said Subhash Chaki, a district vice-president of Trinamool.
Later on Thursday, Trinamool leaders in the Chopra block of North Dinajpur alleged that some BJP supporters had attacked workers of the ruling party. Two TMC supporters were beaten up with rods and sticks and are under treatment, they said.
BJP leaders have denied the allegation.