Sporadic violence in Bengal civic polls; one shot dead

Kolkata, April 25

One person was shot dead and another received bullet injuries in West Bengal during polling for 91 civic bodies on Saturday.

The voter turnout in the first three hours was over 20%, an official said. While one person - Indrajit Singh - said to be a Trinamool Congress activist, was shot dead at Katwa in Burdwan, another suffered bullet injuries in North 24 Parganas district.

“He (Singh) was shot dead by unidentified miscreants. We have sought a report on the incident, senior police officials are at the spot and we are taking all measures to preserve peace and security,” Burdwan district magistrate Saumitra Mohan said.

“Till 10 am over 20% of polling was reported. We have received reports of violent incidents from several districts and looking into it. There have been reports of bullets been fired in North 24 Parganas, we are looking into all aspects,” a state election commission official said.

In North 24-Parganas’ Titagarh, a voter was allegedly shot in his leg while Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Govind Pal alleged that Trinamool miscreants fired bullets at him but he escaped unhurt.

BJP MP from Darjeeling SS Ahluwalia alleged that several party candidates contesting for the Siliguri Municipality polls and activists were assaulted by Trinamool goons.

“Since midnight, our people have come under intense attack by Trinamool goons. Our candidates have been beaten up, party activists and polling agent been assaulted. There is a reign of terror unleashed by Trinamool,” said Ahluwalia. — IANS