The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called for a 12-hour 'bandh' in Basirhat, while a ‘black day ’ will be observed in the rest of West Bengal on Monday, 10 June over the violence in Sandeshkhali on Saturday that left several party workers dead.
Warring parties BJP and the TMC, on Sunday, 9 June, continued to blame each other for violence, even as bodies of three persons were recovered and several others remained 'missing'.
Several shops and houses were reportedly ransacked on Saturday, 8 June during the violence which broke out during a TMC procession in Sandeshkhali under the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency. Sources in the TMC and the BJP had claimed that the clashes broke out over removal of the saffron party's flags in the area.
How It All Began
At least three persons were allegedly killed and several others were severely injured in clashes that broke out between the TMC and the BJP in Basirhat on Saturday night, sources in both the parties claimed.
State BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu claimed that the party workers were shot dead when they stopped TMC supporters from "throwing away" their party flags.
The bodies have been identified as that of Sukanta Mondal, Pradip Mondal and Kayoom Mollah. While Sukanta and Pradip were BJP supporters, TMC leaders said Kayoom was an active worker of their party.
Shankar Mondal and Debdas Mondal of Bhangipara village are missing, local BJP leaders claimed.
"When Kayum was on his way to attend a party meeting, he was hacked at first. When he managed to free himself, he was shot dead. The BJP is trying to vitiate the atmosphere and disturb peace in the district," state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick said.
While the BJP leadership on Sunday claimed that five of its supporters were killed in the clash, the TMC said that six of its workers were missing.
Police Stop Mortal remains of Party Workers Being Carried
On Sunday, 9 June, security forces in West Bengal had stopped BJP leaders in Minakha, Basirhat by blocking the state highway as they were taking the mortal remains of deceased party workers to the party office. An earlier attempt of the police at Malancha to stop the party failed as the BJP workers forced their way through.
BJP MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee, meanwhile, told ANI, “Families of the deceased want to take the remains to party office but Mamata’s police are stopping us saying that last rites will be held in village.”
Even State BJP President Dilip Ghosh, who was accompanying the hearses, claimed the same and said, “The police cannot stop us like this.”
“The police did not act when our people were attacked and killed and now they are not allowing us to take the bodies of our party workers,” he said.
Amid the altercation between the policemen and BJP leaders, party workers threatened to perform the last rites of the deceased men on the road and started to arrange a pyre.
Rahul Sinha later said that since the family members of the two victims were feeling unwell, the bodies were taken back to their villages.
TMC, BJP Continue Blame Game
Speaking to reporters at the airport in Kolkata on his arrival from Delhi, MBJP leader Mukul Roy alleged that local TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh masterminded the attack on BJP workers.
Mallick, who led a TMC delegation to Sandeshkhali, told PTI, “We apprehend that six TMC workers have been killed and their bodies dumped in water.”
He alleged the BJP workers attacked TMC supporters during a procession and accused the saffron party of bringing in outsiders to foment trouble.
The minister also asserted that the BJP workers were killed by bullets fired by their “own people” and denied that TMC men were involved in their deaths.
Contending that his party wants peace to prevail, Mallick said he has asked his partymen not to hold any meeting or procession without the district leadership's permission.
Police and the district administration have been tight-lipped about the incident and have not made any statement on the number of deaths.
A huge contingent of police is posted at Bhangipara village, which is under the Nyajat Police Station limits, where the clashes took place on Saturday evening during a TMC rally. Internet services have also been suspended at Nyajat, some 70 kilometres from Kolkata in the Sandeshkhali area.
BJP to Observe Black Day Across State
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called for a 12-hour ‘bandh’ in Basirhat, while a ‘black day ’ will be observed in the rest of West Bengal on Monday, 10 June
On Wednesday, the BJP will march to the Kolkata Police headquarters of Lalbazar to protest against the violence in Sandeshkhali, party sources said, reported PTI.
The BJP held meetings and rallies at several places in the state on Sunday as well, including Kolkata, protesting the killing of its party workers, and courted arrest. At least 62 persons, including 11 women, were arrested in Kolkata, police said.
Dilip Ghosh’s Victory Rally Also Stopped
Several BJP workers and police personnel were injured earlier on Saturday, 8 June after clashes broke out between the two sides over a victory rally, led by BJP’s Dilip Ghosh at Gangarampur area of North Dinajpur district.
The incident took place after police officials allegedly stopped the rally by Ghosh, who won from the Medinipur parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha polls.
BJP workers “forcibly took out” the procession 'Abhinandan Yatra' without taking any permission from the authorities concerned, a police officer told PTI.
When police personnel tried to stop the rally, irate BJP workers clashed with them, following which a number of people from both sides suffered injuries, he said. A baton charge by the police left several BJP workers injured. Police also lobbed teargas shells to disperse the crowd, reported Hindustan Times.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Thursday said victory rallies will not be allowed by any party in West Bengal, including the ruling Trinamool Congress.
According to Hindustan Times, Sub-inspector Ribhu Bhattacharya sustained a head injury, while a woman civic volunteer suffered a broken leg. Both were taken to Gangarampur hospital. Hindustan Times reported that BJP workers showered brickbats on the police force, chased the men in uniform with sticks and also damaged a number of police vehicles.
As tensions rose, Ghosh was taken to a safe place by BJP workers and more police were deployed to tackle the situation.
Ghosh alleged that the TMC government is disallowing such processions, as it is afraid of the saffron party's rise in the state.
"We have won 18 seats in West Bengal and our vote share has also increased 40.5 percent... We wanted to thank the people by organising these rallies. But, the state government is so afraid of the rise of the BJP that it is denying us permission to conduct rallies. We will go ahead with the marches even if we don't get a clearance for them," Ghosh asserted.
In a video sharde by Ghosh, BJP workers could be seen protesting against police meddling and intrusion at Gangarampur.
"We are carrying out 'Nagrik Abhinandan Yatra' everywhere. They have voted for us and it is our responsibility to thank them. The police is not letting us carry out 'Yatras' anywhere. They have imposed Section 144. They are stopping us which is why the clash broke out," said Ghosh.
Ghosh blamed the state government for the incident.
“TMC workers are taking this opportunity to attack us. Our workers and police officials sustained injuries. This incident took place due to autocratic behaviour of state government,” Ghosh said told ANI.
On Friday, in a series of tweets, Ghosh took to Twitter to criticise this move.
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