Two men — one each from the Trinamul Congress and the BJP — were arrested on Thursday in connection with the clash at Dinhata in Cooch Behar district on Tuesday night.
The BJP filed a complaint at Dinhata police station on Wednesday night, accusing north Bengal development minister Udayan Guha and 89 others of attacking MP Nisith Pramanik and his associates.
On Wednesday early morning, Trinamul had filed a police complaint against 45 persons, including Pramanik.
After the clash, the police registered a case based on the complaint filed by Prabir Dutta, a sub-inspector of police at Dinhata, in connection with the attack on Dhiman Mitra, the subdivisional police officer (SDPO) of Dinhata.
Mitra, who reached the spot during the clash to control the situation, was hit by a brick on the head. He was admitted to the Cooch Behar subdivisional hospital.
Sources said Alamin Sheikh, a 21-year-old Trinamul worker from Okrabari in Dinhata, had been arrested for the attack on Mitra. Charges of obstructing and hurting a public servant and an attempt to murder have been brought against him. “The accused was identified from CCTV footage of the area which the police scanned after the incident,” said a source.
BJP worker Jonab Ali, 27, of Jhuripara in Dinhata has been arrested in a case filed by Trinamul activist Prititosh Mondal. In his complaint, Mondal said Pramanik and 44 others had attacked Trinamul supporters.
Ali has been booked for an attempt to murder, causing grievous hurt, theft, wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation.
Sheikh and Ali were produced in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Dinhata. The court remanded Sheikh in police custody for three days and Ali for 14 days.
The complaint against 90 persons, including Guha, was filed at Dinhata police station by Cooch Behar district BJP president Sukumar Roy.
“The arrests prove that Trinamul attacked us and the SDPO. Even then, a police case was registered against our leaders and workers,” said Biraj Bose, a district BJP leader.
On Thursday afternoon, Udayan Guha and Trinamul workers reached Bhetaguri — Pramanik’s home turf and a BJP stronghold. Seeing Guha, BJP workers gathered and started shouting slogans. Trinamul workers, too, raised counter slogans.
The police intervened and dispersed the two groups.
Nomination
Pramanik, the BJP candidate for the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat, on Thursday filed his nominations.
Pramanik, along with Rajya Sabha members Nagen Roy, district BJP president Sukumar Roy and other BJP leaders, joined a march with around 3,000 party
supporters to reach the district magistrate’s office on Thursday morning. He
offered pujas at Madanmohan temple and other shrines before reaching the collectorate.
Pramanik filed the nominations at the collectorate.
