One Killed in TC, CPI(M) Clash in WB

One person was killed and six others, including a police officer, were wounded as a political turf war between Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M) turned into a bloody riot, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal on Thursday.

Violence erupted in three villages under Khanakul, Arambagh and Purshura police stations as supporters of the two political outfits attacked each other with guns, bombs, bows and arrows, said reports citing the police.

Ananta Dalui (40), an agriculture labourer, was gunned down in a potato field at Chandraban village under Arambag police station, they said.

Officer-in-Charge of Khankul police station, Sukomal Das, and a constable sustained bullet wounds when they attempted to control the situation in Majhpur village.

The two are currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

Four other villagers, believed to be CPI(M) supporters, were also shot and injured in the same village, added the reports.

Senior police officials later told journalists that a huge posse has been deployed in the area and the situation, though tense, is under control.

The issue reverberated in the parliament with TC chief whip Sudip Bandopadhyay holding the Left Front government “responsible” for the clashes.

TC chief Mamata Banerjee said she had escalated details of the incident to Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Union Home minister P Chidambaram, who, Banerjee said, has promised to soon despatch a central team to the area to assess the situation.

Reacting to the development, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said that the central team will only prove the “nexus” between the TV and Maoists.

“Send a central team. It will only prove what we have been saying about the Maoist-Trinamool nexus,” he said.