Two BJP candidates — Dr Harekrishna Bera and Ashoke Dinda — and party supporters accompanying CPM’s Nandigram candidate Minakshi Mukherjee were injured in three separate attacks in East Midnapore since early Tuesday.

The victims of all the attacks have pointed a finger at Trinamul, an allegation the ruling party has denied.

In the first incident, Dr Harekrishna Bera, the BJP candidate from Tamluk, was allegedly attacked by Trinamul supporters outside Tamluk police station around 1.30am.

Bera had gone to the police station to complain against a prior attack on BJP workers. When Bera and party supporters came out of the police station, a group of Trinamul workers allegedly led by Raghunathpur-I gram panchayat pradhan Atiar Rahaman beat them up.

Bera and two other BJP supporters, were rushed to Tamluk district hospital where they are being treated.

Speaking from the hospital, Bera said: “They tried to finish me off. It is alarming that a candidate was beaten up outside the police station. Imagine the security of our party supporters elsewhere.”

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh who called on the injured Bera at the hospital, said: “Trinamul is scared of losing the polls and the attack is an outcome of the fear.”

In Moyna, BJP candidate and cricketer Ashoke Dinda’s car was attacked when he was returning home around 4pm.

The former cricketer and the BJP’s Moyna nominee was attacked along with his party workers while he was participating in a road show.

“We were taking part in a road show when Trinamul men with party flags attacked us with sticks. They badly beat up my party colleagues and pounced on me. Two of my party workers had to be hospitalised and I had to take primary treatment from a local hospital. My car was vandalised,” said Dinda.

Minakshi, the CPM candidate from Nandigram, and her supporters were allegedly attacked by Trinamul-backed goons in Bhutamore area of her constituency. “Trinamul is wary because they know they will lose in Nandigram. All those who attacked us had Trinamul caps on,” Minakshi, who escaped unhurt, said.

Trinamul’s Tamluk candidate and district president for the party Soumen Mahapatra denied his party’s involvement. “We are in no way involved in the attacks,” he said.

In the district’s North Contai, the body of BJP supporter Janmenjar Doloi was found from a pond near his home on Tuesday morning. BJP district president Anup Chakraborty claimed that Doloi had been murdered.

Senior CPM leader Rabin Deb, who was present when the attack on the CPM rally took place, said: “Trinamul feels that the minority votes are shifting towards the Left and this made their supporters attack our cadres accompanying our candidate Minakshi Mukherjee. But the question is how did Trinamul get permission to take out a rally on the route for which we had permission? The EC should reply.”

EC’s Nandigram plan

The Election Commission has decided to deploy 22 companies of central forces in Nandigram to hold polls peacefully in 355 booths in the Assembly seat while 22 quick response teams will keep vigil on the constituency that saw a sudden rise in political temperature on the last day of campaign on Tuesday.

This is so far the highest deployment of central forces in any Assembly seat in this year’s elections.

Maximum number of quick response teams have also been deployed in the Assembly segment since the situation is tense and the poll panel does not want to take any chances, said a senior official.

On Tuesday, top state government officials, including the chief secretary and the director general of police, held a video conference with the officials of East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Bankura and South 24-Parganas that would go for polls on April 1.

Sources said the top brass of the government had instructed the district authorities to initiate all possible steps to ensure a free and fair poll.

“The officials of East Midnapore have been asked to initiate all possible steps to ensure that polls are held peacefully. The entire country is keeping watch on Nandigram. If violence mars the elections in Nandigram, it will send a wrong message,” said a source.

Senior officials said East Midnapore district officials were asked to increase the deployment of quick response teams if they deem it necessary, and set up additional sector offices in Nandigram so that security personnel can reach the spot at the earliest in case of any untoward incident.