A Trinamul Congress worker was shot at by a group of miscreants at Alampur under Gazole police station in Malda district on Wednesday night.

Bifal Mandal has suffered an injury to the right leg and is under treatment at the Malda Medical College and Hospital.

Trinamul leaders accused the BJP of attacking Mandal, who hails from Raniganj in Gazole. He had been to Alampur on a personal errand.

Local BJP leaders were mounting pressure on the injured worker to join their party in the past few days and attacked him for rejecting the proposal, Trinamul alleged.

While returning home, Mandal was intercepted by a group of armed youths, who, according to him, had asked him to quit Trinamul and start working for the BJP.

“As I refused to give in, the miscreants, who were on two-wheelers, opened fire at me. They fired at least five rounds and a bullet hit my right leg. Some locals, who heard the firing, came out. I also shouted for help. Then, the assailants fled,” said the injured Trinamul worker.

“We want immediate arrest of all those who were involved in the attack. That the BJP is desperate to win the elections by any means is evident from the incident,” said Dulal Sarkar, a district Trinamul leader in Malda.

The saffron camp, however, rejected the charges. Kajal Kundu, a BJP leader based in Gazole, said the incident was the fallout of the factionalism in Trinamul.

“Some Trinamul leaders are trying to save their face by blaming us,” he said.

Mandal was initially taken to a local health centre and later to the Malda Medical College and Hospital. Doctors said he was in a stable condition and was under observation.

Arrest

Acting on a tip off, Bansihari police in South Dinajpur have arrested seven persons who are suspected to be members of a gang that had planned a robbery on Wednesday night.

Monojit Sarkar, the inspector-in-charge, said the gang members had assembled near a petrol pump in Narayanpur area. The police team went there and nabbed them. An improvised firearm, one round of live cartridge and some sharp weapons have been recovered from them.