WB panchayat poll violence: 17-year-old killed in crude bomb explosion

Police said that the incident took place amid a political clash that broke out after midnight. The boy lost his life after a crude bomb exploded near him while one more person sustained injuries

A 17-year-old teenage boy was killed in a crude bomb explosion at Deyganga in North 24 Parganas, while one person was injured in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.

(Representative Photo)

This came after two political workers, one each from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were killed in the pre-poll violence in West Bengal, taking the number of fatalities in the state to 15 since the filing of nomination for panchayat polls began on June 9.

Panchayat polls are scheduled for Saturday. Results would be declared on July 11.

“Police have identified the deceased as Imran Hossain, said a police officer, adding five persons were arrested.

Police said that the incident took place amid a political clash that broke out after midnight. The boy lost his life after a crude bomb exploded near him while one more person sustained injuries, said the officer.

This came hours after the director general of the state police said that the situation in West Bengal was under control.

“Small incidents are being blown out of proportion to project that there is a big law and order problem. There have been one or two big incidents but police took prompt action,” Manoj Malaviya, director general of police, had told reporters at a press conference.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta high court has directed that central forces be deployed in all polling stations across the state. There are more than 61,000 polling stations in the state. The Union ministry of home affairs has sanctioned 822 companies of central forces and state armed police for the panchayat polls scheduled on July 8.