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Two more killed in West Bengal poll violence; toll now 14
Two political workers, one each from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were killed in West Bengal, taking the number of fatalities in poll-related violence in the state to 14, police said on Monday.
Kolkata:
Two political workers, one each from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were killed in West Bengal, taking the number of fatalities in poll-related violence in the state to 14, police said on Monday.
Panchayat elections are scheduled to be held in the state on July 8. The results will be announced on July 11.
According to the police, TMC worker Paritosh Mondol was killed in an explosion, while another person sustained injuries allegedly during manufacture of crude bombs in North 24 Parganas’s Haroa on Sunday.
The family of the deceased, however, said he was murdered. “He stepped out on Sunday and never returned. This morning, I was informed that he was killed. His hands were missing. He was first murdered and then bombs were hurled at him,” Mondol’s wife said. HT reached out to senior police officers for a comment but did not get one immediately.
The BJP took a swipe at TMC over the incident. “Wherever there is a bomb and a murder case, you will find TMC... One can imagine what will happen on the polling day,” BJP leader Rahul Sinha said.
Hitting back, TMC MP Santanu Sen said: “TMC is determined to hold free and fair polls... Opposition is trying to create unrest ”
In a separate incident, the body of BJP worker Bankim Hansda was found near a bush at Manbazar in Purulia on Monday. Hansda’s family said, he stepped out for campaigning on Sunday night but did not return.
Police, however, said the autopsy report did not reveal any injuries on the body and suggested the man may have died of a heart attack.
BJP legislator Suvendu Adhikari tweeted: “Another mysterious death of a @BJP4Bengal Karyakarta in Purulia district. The Regional TMC Party has established ‘Jungle Raj’ in WB,” he tweeted.
Responding to Adhikari’s tweet, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “I request LoP @SuvenduWB to refrain from making baseless accusations...”
At least 14 people have died and dozens injured in various instances of alleged political violence ever since the state election commission (SEC) announced the schedule for the single-phase election on June 8.
