In yet another case of a political brawl in West Bengal, one person was killed while a number of others suffered injuries after two opposing political parties in Cooch Behar district clashed on Sunday.
According to The Indian Express, Atabul Islam, the newly elected CPM Gram Panchayat member from Jamaldaha area, accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters of killing his 48-year-old relative, Ramzan Miya and attacking his supporters.
Reportedly, he was attacked while on his way to the local police station to lodge a complaint against intimidations he had been facing. He told the daily, “As I am the only opposition member elected to the Jamaldaha Gram Panchayat, TMC workers have been putting pressure on me to leave the area. As I was on my way to lodge a written complaint with Mekhliganj Police Station along with my family members and party workers, people led by TMC leader Rathin Ray Dakua, who lost the election to me, attacked us with a sharp weapon.”
The clash left 12 people injured while two are in a critical condition. Atabul’s father, who was also attacked has since then been shifted to another hospital in Siliguri for better treatment.
Police Action Against Accused
After Atabul lodged an FIR against 23 people, the local police have since then made arrests. A senior police officer, who has been looking into the case, while talking to The Logical Indian said, “We have arrested seven people from both the political parties and the investigation is still going on. They are in police custody now.”
However, TMC denies all allegations of the party’s involvement in the clash. Udayan Guha, MLA and party leader from North Bengal, while talking to The Logical Indian said, “ This was a case of a family feud, and there were no involvements of any political parties in this case.”
Meanwhile, state CMP leader, Sujan Chakraborty came down hard on TMC. Talking to The Logical Indian, he said, “The party is engaging in clashes owing to their ‘no opposition theory’ in the state.”
“Every villager knows that the clash happened because they chose to support the CPM candidate in the elections. We want the police to conduct proper investigations,” added Chakraborty.
The Logical Indian Take
Since the Panchayat elections, the state has seen a number of politically incited violence between the ruling TMC party, the CPM and the BJP, where several lives have been lost, while many others were injured. However, the government led by TMC seems to have chosen to turn a blind eye towards the political violence.
With the complete disintegration of law and order in the state, the government ought to take matters into its hands.
