One person was killed and two others were critically injured in a fierce gun-battle between two groups at Chopra in the North Dinajpur district of West Bengal on Thursday afternoon. The incident occurred while some Congress and CPI(M) candidates were jointly approaching the local block development office to submit their nominations for the forthcoming panchayat polls in the state.
The miscreants attacked the CPI(M) and Congress candidates, and as they resisted, the miscreants took out guns and started indiscriminate firing. In that firing, one person was killed on the spot, and two others were critically injured. The injured were admitted to a local hospital, and the identity of the person killed is yet to be known.
Sujan Chakraborty, a CPI(M) central committee member, alleged that the attacks on their candidates had been purposely launched by goons associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress. He also accused the police of shamelessly backing the Trinamool Congress goons. The opposition alliance candidates are being resisted from reaching the block development office to file their nominations.
Meanwhile, the state Congress president and Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that Trinamool Congress had turned out to be a party of murderers, and the police were actively backing the ruling party’s violence during the nomination phase.
Trinamool Congress’ legislator from Chopra Hamidul Rahman, however, denied the allegations and claimed that infighting within the CPI(M) had resulted in the firing. None in our party has any connection with this event, he added.
This incident marks the second death over nominations in West Bengal since polling dates were announced on June 8. On June 9, a Congress worker named Phoolchand Sheikh was killed at Khargram in Murshidabad district.
