Post-Poll Violence Takes 3 Lives In West Bengal; TMC Offices Ransacked Across The State
At Beleghata in North Kolkata, a TMC worker, Bishwajit Pattanayak (44), was in charge of a booth during the second and final phase of the polls on April 29: Reports
Kolkata, Berhampore: Three people, two TMC workers and one of the BJP, were murdered as large-scale post-poll violence erupted in West Bengal, while several offices of Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee's party were vandalised in a series of attacks from the city to districts.
The trend of bloodshed, which had put TMC in the dock in 2021, unfolded this time amidst a heavy deployment of central forces, defying repeated assurances from senior BJP leaders that there would be no retribution on the parties that lost the elections. The Election Commission has directed Chief Secretary Dushyant Nariala, DGP S.N. Gupta and central forces to ensure zero tolerance towards post-poll violence.
At Beleghata in North Kolkata, TMC worker Bishwajit Pattanayak, in charge of a booth in the April 29 polls, left home after getting a phone call at around 10.30 pm on Monday. His wife later heard a deafening sound outside and stepped out but found him lying with fatal injuries on the road.
Bishwajit was rushed to Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital from where he was shifted to another hospital. He succumbed to injuries there. The body was sent for post-mortem. The victim's family lodged a complaint of murder of murder with the police. TMC candidate Kunal Ghosh, who won at Beleghata, met the family on Tuesday and blamed the BJP for the murder.
Another murder took place in Howrah. The slain, Yadav Bar, BJP worker from Debipur gram panchayat, was returning home at around 11 pm on Monday after attending a victory celebration. A group of TMC supporters attacked and mercilessly beat him at Dakshin Manshri village.
His family lodged a complaint of murder with the police. On Monday one of the accused was arrested by the police. At Nanur in Birbhum a TMC booth president, Abir Sheikh, was hacked to death by some BJP workers with sharp weapons on Tuesday. Another party worker who was with him was also injured in the attack.
In Murshidabad, Nowda TMC block president and Murshidabad Zilla Parishad Karmadhakshya (education) Mohammad Saifuzzaman alias Habib Mastar was arrested by police for leading the attack on Nowda AJUP MLA-elect Humayun Kabir during the polls on April 23. Meanwhile, Berhampore BJP MLA elect Subrata Moitra shaved his head in memory of slain workers of his party.
