Residents of Jorpatki village in Sitalkuchi of Cooch Behar gathered on the premises of a school to pay homage to the four youths killed three years ago on this day in a CISF firing during the ongoing Assembly elections.

Most residents of the village are Muslims.

Many Trinamul leaders, including Partha Pratim Roy, a former MP and the party spokesperson in the district, also reached the village school, Amtali Madhyamik Siksha Kendra, where villagers raised a column in the memory of the four youths gunned down on April 10, 2021.

Over 100 persons wore black badges and paid homage to the youths a day before Eid.

Amzad Hosain, who lost his 31-year-old son Maniruzzaman in the firing, was tearful. “Carrying the body of my son to the grave was the biggest ordeal of my life. I can't describe the pain. The indiscriminate firing by the CISF took my son’s life. Three years have passed but we can’t forget him,” he said.

Alizar Rahman, a local Trinamul leader, said the incident still gave them the shivers.

“When the Muslim community across the world is gearing up to celebrate Eid on Thursday, we are in mourning. The families who lost their sons deserve justice. Those who opened fire should be punished,” he said.

On April 19, villagers will enter the school again to cast their votes. Like in 2021, the school is again a polling booth.

Roy pointed out that the then police chief of Cooch Behar, Debashis Dhar, was now a BJP candidate from the Birbhum Lok Sabha seat.

Trinamul held an event at Golakganj crossing on Sitalkuchi-Mathabhanga Road in memory of the quartet.

Trinamul’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee paid homage on social media to the Sitalkuchi quartet and a Rajbanshi youth who died in another firing. The party's official Facebook page posed questions Union home minister Amit Shah, who launched his campaign in Bengal on Wednesday.

“Amit Shah should reply who had given permission to CISF to open fire and what he has done for the affected families in the past three years. Also, how his party can field the police officer, who was suspended for the incident, as a candidate in the Lok Sabha polls?” the party asked.