A skirmish between two gangs of villagers in Jhargram’s Jungle Mahal, who also happened to be rival supporters of the Trinamul Congress and the BJP, spiralled into a clash leading to the death of a political worker.

Around 8pm on Sunday, Trinamul worker Durgapada Soren, 55, and his wife Sakro were reportedly returning home in Pindorakula when the latter was leered at by a group of youths.

Sources said Soren, who was allegedly killed later that night in the ensuing clash, went home without reacting and informed Trinamul workers in the area.

“The youths who had allegedly leered at Soren’s wife denied any wrongdoing, and also gathered their forces, turning this unfortunate incident into something much worse,” said an eyewitness.

Sources said the opposing group of BJP workers, led by the brother of Aguigani gram panchayat member Manik Sahoo, encountered the Trinamul group from Pindorakula, following which a full-blown fistfight between the two groups ensued.

Durgapada’s son Rupnath, who was also part of the group, said the fight was broken up soon and each party went its own way.“But after about 15 minutes, I realised that my father was not part of our returning group. So, we backtracked, and found him lying unconscious in a nearby field,” he said, adding that Durgapada was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Later, police arrested two BJP workers. Panchayat member Manik Sahoo denied allegations of violence saying Durgapada had “tripped and fallen”. Trinamul has termed the incident a “planned attack”.

“Such incidents show their true nature. It is important to recognise this before the vote,” said anchal sabhapati Jagadish Mahato.

“Police have been asked to take action as they are now reporting to the Election Commission,” added a local Trinamul youth leader.

The death resulted in a two-hour blockade by Trinamul workers on the Jhagram-Lodhasuli road on Monday.

Jhargram’s superintendent of police, Indira Mukherjee, confirmed the two arrests and said a post-mortem was ongoing.

In a separate incident in East Midnapore’s Bhagabanpur, a road show by Trinamul MP and Tollywood actress Mimi Chakraborty was halted when local BJP workers accused Trinamul workers of attacking the car of BJP nominee Rabindranath Maity.

Skirmishes ensued, leading both sides to stage a road blockade that was promptly removed by central forces. Asked, Trinamul spokesperson Kajal Burman said the BJP had “staged” the incident to “interrupt” Mimi’s rally.