A Congress supporter was shot dead and two others suffered bullet injuries when they were attacked by alleged Trinamul activists at a village near Chopra in North Dinajpur district on Sunday morning.

Arindam Sarkar, a district Trinamul leader, has denied the involvement of the ruling party in the attack. “The incident was due to infighting in the Congress and has nothing to do with Trinamul.”

The Congress said three party workers, Md Samiruddin, Md Patol Sheikh and Md Abdul, were on their way to a market at Kamalgach in Chopra around 9am when alleged Trinamul activists had waylaid them.

Sheikh, who had suffered a bullet injury, said: “We have been facing threats from Trinamul as we worked for the Congress during the panchayat elections in May. Trinamul workers stopped us this morning and once again threatened us. Initially, we protested. When we tried to escape, they fired at us.”

Sheikh said he had been shot on the legs, while the other two had received bullet injuries to the chest.

Local people took the three to Dalua primary health centre and were immediately referred to Islampur subdivisional hospital for treatment.

Samirddin,42, succumbed to his injuries at Islampur subdivisional hospital.

Abul is said to be in a serious condition and has been referred to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri.

The Congress supporters were from Lakhipur gram panchayat. Chopra is around 140km from district headquarters Raiganj

Sumit Kumar, the superintendent of police, North Dinajpur, said: “One person died and two suffered injuries when a clash broke out between two groups in Chopra block. A couple of shots were fired during the clash. Police were deployed in the area and seven persons detained. We have started an investigation.”

A few days back, Congress MP Mausam Noor had said given the present political situation in Bengal, the party should forge an alliance with Trinamul to prevent the BJP’s win.

However, after Sunday’s attack, North Dinajpur district Congress president Mohit Sengupta said he would oppose any pact with Trinamul.

“Congress workers had faced attacks and threats from Trinamul before the panchayat elections. They (Trinamul) attacked our supporters and killed one of them without any provocation this morning. After this incident, if a proposal for an alliance with Trinamul comes from the state Congress leadership, we will oppose it,” Sengupta said.

He said Mausam had issued the statement in her personal capacity.