Trinamul on Wednesday filed a police complaint against Union minister of state and Cooch Behar BJP MP Nisith Pramanik and 44 others, including some BJP leaders, alleging Pramanik had orchestrated the attack on them in Dinhata on Tuesday night.

Based on the complaint filed at Dinhata police station, police have registered a case and initiated a probe.

Prititosh Mondal, a former associate of Pramanik who recently defected to Trinamul, said in the complaint that several party workers got injured in the attack and one of them is reportedly serious.

“Nisith Pramanik came out of the car and instructed his associates to attack us. Arrows were shot and sharp weapons were used against us,” Mondal’s complaint says.

Around 9pm on Tuesday, while a group of Trinamul workers were celebrating the 71st birthday of Udayan Guha, the Dinhata MLA and north Bengal development minister, Pramanik’s convoy was moving through the area while returning from a poll campaign.

Suddenly, a clash ensued and Pramanik and Guha allegedly had a face-off. Their supporters clashed among themselves. Police and central forces reached the spot and brought the situation under control. Amid the chaos, Dinhata SDPO Dhiman Mitra was hit on the head by a brick.

On Wednesday, Trinamul observed a strike for 10 hours across Dinhata subdivision since 6am. Dinhata town and most parts of the subdivision wore a deserted look, more so because of the rain.

Police personnel and central forces patrolled the area. Most people stayed indoors throughout the day while Trinamul workers assembled and demonstrated at certain areas.

Trinamul had on Tuesday night called for a 24-hour bandh, but Guha announced this afternoon that they are withdrawing it at 4pm.

“This is because Ramzan is on.... Since morning, the response was spontaneous and we could successfully send a message to the BJP that people here abhor political violence,” he said.

The BJP alleged that Trinamul supporters pelted stones at one of the vehicles of Pramanik’s convoy.

“As we stopped and came out, some Trinamul workers led by Udayan Guha, attacked us with bricks, sticks and stones. They had earlier organised similar attacks on my convoy. On Tuesday, they did it again. Through violence they can’t prevent us from winning the seat again,” the MP said.

Sukumar Roy, the district BJP president, accused the police of acting at Trinamul’s behest.

“It was a pre-planned attack. Instead of taking steps against Trinamul, police registered a case against our men. Such is the practice across Bengal where BJP workers are implicated in false cases. If required, we will take legal steps,” Roy said.

During the Trinamul strike, a group of BJP supporters reached the SP office in Cooch Behar and resorted to demonstration. They tried to breach the barricades in front of the office but the police personnel stopped them. After some time, the crowd left.

In Cooch Behar, polling will be held on April 16.

“We have shared details of the (Tuesday night) incident with our state and central leaders and want the central security forces to be more active to prevent such Trinamul attacks,” said a BJP functionary.

Trinamul, on the other hand, is trying to prove that the BJP is resorting to violence as a scare tactic in a constituency where it has its MP.

On Wednesday, Guha shared a post on social media, claiming that a BJP supporter had asked him if he liked his birthday “gift”.

“In the post, I have been named and quizzed whether I liked the so-called gift, that is, the attack organised on us. This reaffirms that the MP and his cohorts attacked us in a planned manner on Tuesday night,” said Guha.

Governor visit

Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, who had expressed concern over the political violence in Cooch Behar on Tuesday night and sought a report from the state police, visited Dinhata on Wednesday.

Bose, who landed in Bagdogra, then headed for Dinhata. There, he reached a popular crossing and spoke with residents, including a BJP MLA and the civic chairman of Trinamul-run Dinhata municipality.

Later, while talking to newspersons, the governor said that Dinhata wanted peace and it would get peace.

“For quite some time, in Bengal, at least in some pockets, elections have been reduced to a battle between the might and the right. We cannot allow violence to decide the course of elections. We are determined to stop violence with an iron hand and things cannot be the same like (they were in) the panchayat elections,” the governor said.

Bose also appreciated the people of Dinhata, who, he said, wanted to shun violence and stand together.

“This time, we want to stem the rot here in Dinhata. There will be peaceful elections here. Also, residents here are free to inform the governor through the Log Sabha portal if they need any help and I will stand in their support,” he added.

Bose on Sunday launched the Log Sabha portal to directly connect with the people of Bengal during Lok Sabha polls. As part of the new initiative, people can reach out to the governor on the email id logsabha.rajbhavankolkata@gmail.com.

From Dinhata, the governor went to Burirhat, a locality in the subdivision and met some other people. From there, he finally reached the Circuit House in Cooch Behar.