The fierce turf war between BJP and Trinamool Congress continued in villages under Parui police station in politically volatile Birbhum district with yet another saffron worker falling to the ruling party bullets on Sunday morning.
A 20-year-old farmer was shot dead by the raiding Trinamool men at Chowmandalpur village, at least two others sustained bullet and bomb injuries in neighbouring hamlets of Sirsita and Jadavpur, and many houses were torched in fresh BJP-TMC hostilities that spread like wildfire in other areas too amid allegations that the men in khaki were taking sides in making arrests.
The Trinamool musketeers shot dead Yasim Sheikh a farmer who was working in the paddy field. Moving in after allowing sufficient time for the raiders to flee the police arrested victim’s father Ikramul Sheikh even as he grieved by his son’s corpse, sources alleged.
“I was taken to the police station and beaten up brutally in the name of interrogation. They gave me a fractured right hand,” Sheikh who was later freed said.
In retaliation, the BJP workers put up a resistance at neighbouring Jadavpur village and in the melee about 10 houses were torched, Trinamool sources said, claiming “all the houses belonged to the Trinamool workers.”
Another person sustained bullet injuries at Chowmandalpur and was being treated in a hospital while a third person, reportedly a BJP worker from Sirsita village which had sporadically erupted on Saturday, sustained crude bomb injuries in nightlong bombing and exchange of gunshots, harried locals who continued to flee the villages towards Bolpur town leaving back unlocked houses said.
“One person has died and some arrests have been made after some violence,” district SP Alok Rajoria said adding four persons had been arrested. About a dozen people mostly BJP supporters were also arrested from Jadavpur village, sources said.
Yasim died barely within a mile of the spot where the officer in-charge of Parui police station was attacked late last month when he went to raid hideouts following reports that huge stockpiles of bombs had been stored in the area.
With Sunday’s incident the death toll in Parui block jumped up to five in the past one month or so with four BJP workers losing their lives at Makra village earlier.Curiously, while initial reports spoke of criminals having stockpiled several thousand crude bombs, the police could recover about 800 only from an empty doctor’s quarter of primary health centre.
Already tensed since last year’s panchayat elections when rebel Trinamool leader Hridyay Ghosh’s father Sagar Ghosh was shot dead by Trinamool goons within hours of district Trinamool president Anubrata Mandal telling a party rally to torch rebels’ houses and bomb police vehicles, Parui had been simmering over the past few months particularly after Sagar Ghosh joined the BJP along with thousands of his supporters leading the Trinamool to launch a counter-offensive to recapture its lost territories in the given block.
Reports of sporadic clashes were also reported from Satok village in Ghatal sub-division of West Midnapore district. Six BJP supporters were injured when Trinamool men attacked them early on Sunday morning.
Reacting sharply to the ongoing violence BJP, State president Rahul Sinha said that the incidents had been reported to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. “I have told about the incident to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and he has asked for a detailed report from us,” Sinha said calling up the civil society to react the way they had done during the Nandigram movement.
“I wonder why the civil society that had come out in protest during the Nandigram movement is not coming out now. Have they been bought over by the GovernmentIJ My request to the honest members of the civil society is to come out and resist the violence,” he said.
Congress’ Abdul Mannan said, “In the past few years, the Trinamool has only given us violence and unrest. What is happening in Parui is a clash between two groups of anti-socials one backed by the State Government and the other by the Centre.”
CPI(M)’s Md Salim said, “there is no rule of law in Bengal, “ adding “both the Trinamool and the BJP are trying to trigger a civil war in the State.”
Reacting to police taking sides, Union Minister and singer Babul Supriyo said, “All the policemen are not dishonest. It seems that the majority of them are under intense pressure from the Government.”