The police on Sunday have arrested four persons in connection with Saturday’s clash between the BJP and Trinamul following the saffron camp's rally in West Burdwan’s Barabani on Saturday that snowballed into a pitched battle where bombs and bullets flew, and motorbikes were set ablaze.
Sources said the four arrested include two each from the BJP and Trinamul.
“We have received complaints from both BJP and Trinamul and so far have arrested four persons in connection with the trouble. Investigations are on and more arrests will be made.
The situation in Barabani is under control and we have deployed policemen in the area,” said Biswajit Mahato, deputy commissioner of police (west).
On Saturday, six BJP supporters were injured, including Kalicharan Das who suffered a bullet wound on his chest and was rushed to a Durgapur hospital during the clash that broke out between the Bengal ruling party and the saffron camp during the BJP’s rally on their Ar Noi Annay (No more injustice) campaign at Jamgram in Barabani block.
Doctors at the hospital in Durgapur said the bullet lodged between Das’s heart and abdomen on the left side of his chest could not be removed surgically yet because of his present health status. “We have kept him under observation with medical support. We will try to remove the bullet on Monday,” said a doctor.
BJP state secretary and party observer here Raju Banerjee said if attacks on their party activists keep happening they would strike back. “People will uproot Trinamul from the state within a few months (in the elections). If they (Trinamul workers) continue with such violence and attack our party workers we will retaliate,” said Banerjee.
Banerjee held two rallies in Durgapur and Asansol on Sunday as part of BJP’s Ar Noi Annay programme, which is pitted against the ruling party’s Duare Sarkar. He later visited Barabani where the clash occurred.
Trinamul denied the charges. “The BJP has realised it won’t come to power in Bengal and is frustrated. They are creating trouble on their own and blaming us for publicity. People will oust them from the state,” said Jitendra Kumar Tiwari, Trinamul president in West Burdwan.