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They rained bombs, looted booths: Witnesses of West Bengal panchayat poll violence
ByPramod Giri, Sreyasi PalJul 09, 2023 04:40 AM IST
At least 18 people were killed in the state on Saturday on the day ofpolling for the three-tier panchayat elections.
Dulali Karjee and her son Chiranjit were looking forward to exercise their franchise, along with friends and neighbours, in Bhagni village in Cooch Behar on Saturday, but the day brought a lifetime of grief for the 64-year-old woman instead as her son was among the 18 people killed in widespread violence that marred the West Bengal panchayat elections.
Police personnel baton charge after a clash between rival political groups during panchyat elections in Malda district of West Bengal on Saturday. (PTI)
“We were going towards the polling booth when some men, who had their faces covered, started firing indiscriminately at people without any provocation. We ran towards a house for cover, but a bullet hit Chiranjit in the chest and he fell,” Karjee said. “While several people survived with injuries, my 29-year-old son wasn’t so lucky. He died at the hospital.”
At least 18 people were killed in West Bengal on Saturday as the polling for the three-tier panchayat elections witnessed violence and looting of ballots in eight districts, the opposition parties alleged.
Also Read: WB Guv CV Ananda Bose hits violence-hit areas on polling day
Chiranjit Karjee was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker. Two more people — another BJP worker and a Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporter — were also killed in violence in Cooch Behar.
While both the ruling TMC and Opposition BJP distanced themselves from the incidents, locals alleged that people involved in violence were political workers.
“The men who hurled bombs at us were BJP supporters,” Saidul Mian, a resident of Hajarhat village in Cooch Behar, alleged. “They looted three ballot boxes from our local polling booth.”
Muhammed Hamid, a resident of Beltapara village, claimed: “Some TMC supporters forcibly entered the booth in our area, hurled bombs and decamped with three ballot boxes.”
Also Read: Bengal poll body under fire for its failing to control violence
The situation was worse in Murshidabad district.
Sariful Islam, a government staff on poll duty in Raninagar area, broke down while talking to media persons after miscreants attacked his booth inside a school building.
“A mob appeared from nowhere after around 800 people had cast their votes. They rained bombs around the booth. My colleagues and I crawled under the wooden benches to hide. We don’t know which party these people represent,” Islam said.
The district witnessed five deaths on Saturday, the highest in the eastern state. At least 40 people sustained bullet and bomb injuries in Murshidabad on Saturday, police officers said, requesting anonymity.
The first victim of the polling-day violence was a TMC worker, Babar Ali (45), from Murshidabad. He was talking to fellow party workers near his house at Beldanga on Friday night when he was attacked by some armed miscreants, police said.
“He was mercilessly bludgeoned. He died in hospital in the early hours of Saturday,” a senior police officer said, declining to be named.
Ismail Sheikh, a resident of Dafarpur gram panchayat area said: “A local TMC leader did not allow any voter to enter the booth. His henchmen hurled at least 25-30 bombs to terrorise us.”
Ratan Das, a voter from Manindranagar gram panchayat area, said: “I went to cast my vote around 9 am. When I reached the booth, I was told by the polling personnel that my vote had already been cast. Only TMC-backed goons could have done this.”
They rained bombs, looted booths: Witnesses of West Bengal panchayat poll violence
At least 18 people were killed in the state on Saturday on the day ofpolling for the three-tier panchayat elections.
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