At least four persons suffered gunshot wounds and 15 others suffered injuries when alleged Trinamul Congress supporters armed with firearms, iron rods and sticks attacked a joint march by Left Front and Congress supporters in North Dinajpur district on Thursday.
The attack occurred when a group of 300 Left Front and Congress supporters were marching to the Chopra block development office to file nominations for the panchayat polls.
Sources said CPM and Congress candidates in Chopra block had been finding it tough to submit their nominations for the past few days.
“Hundreds of Trinamul supporters were guarding the local BDO office to prevent candidates of other parties from filing their nominations,” said Anwarul Haque, the CPM secretary of North Dinajpur district.
On Thursday, local leaders of the CPM and the Congress decided to reach the BDO office together.
Accordingly, the candidates, along with around 300 party workers, left Lalbazar for Chopra, located 15km away. Many of them were carrying the flags of their respective parties.
When they reached Kathalbaribusty after covering a distance of 5km, a group of around 30 youths, suspected to be Trinamul supporters, stopped them.
“They were Trinamul supporters who told us that we should drop the plan of submitting nominations and return to our villages,” said Mushtaq Alam, a CPM supporter.
This led to an altercation and suddenly some others, who were carrying firearms, emerged from the adjoining agricultural fields. They opened fire at the CPM and Congress supporters.
The Opposition parties' supporters ran to save their lives as at least four of them fell on the spot after being hit by bullets.
“Some of us took shelter in the agricultural field. After firing several rounds, the attackers started searching for us. Whoever they found was thrashed with rods and sticks,” said Momena Khatun, who was also beaten up.
After the attackers left, those who had managed to escape unhurt returned to the spot and rescued the injured. Also, a police team went there and arranged vehicles to rush them to the hospital.
Those who were hit by bullets were Mansoor Alam, Naimul Haque, Mostafa Kamal and Bablu Rehman. Alam has suffered an injury on his head and is under treatment at a private nursing home in Siliguri in critical condition. The other three were hit in their limbs.
Jaspreet Singh, the superintendent of police of Islampur police district, said the law enforcers were taking all necessary steps to restore normality in the area.
“A clash occurred in Chopra and some people were injured. Our men reached the spot and brought the situation under control. They are still patrolling the area. Some people have been arrested,” he said.
The police are conducting raids and have arrested over 10 persons so far, said sources.
“We have specifically alerted the state election commission about Chopra. A couple of days ago, miscreants of Trinamul had abducted some Congress leaders of the block and later released them. The state government is entirely responsible for the incident,” said state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Choudhury.
In Calcutta, a delegation of Left Front, led by Biman Bose, met the state election commissioner today as some Left supporters demonstrated in front of the state election commission office.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said no Trinamul worker was injured in the attack.
Chopra, which is in the northern parts of the district and close to the Darjeeling district, is known for its volatile political environment. On a number of occasions earlier, political clashes, arson, firing, and ransacking of properties, were reported from the block, which is also located in the strategic “chicken’s neck” (thinnest stretch of India).
