B
efore the second phase of voting in West Bengal, violent clashes once again broke out between supporters of the All India Trinamool Congress, Indian National Congress, and the Bharatiya Janata Party. During the incident, police arrested a TMC councillor Gopal Raut along with four others.
This incident took place in the Jagaddal area of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, where a rally of Narendra Modi is also scheduled for Monday.
Police have launched a search operation to arrest the accused in the case. The Election Commission of India has sought a report from the police and directed that arrests be made at the earliest.
Police said that on Sunday night, ahead of the proposed rally of Narendra Modi scheduled in the same area on Monday, workers from both parties clashed with each other. Following the incident, central forces have been deployed in the area.
To lodge a complaint regarding the incident, the BJP candidate from Noapara went to the Jagaddal police station in West Bengal.
In this case, BJP leader Arjun Singh alleged that TMC workers attacked and pelted stones.
Photo: @BBC (Sanjay Das)
On one hand, BJP leaders are alleging that TMC workers started the attack first and pelted stones. On the other hand, TMC leaders are accusing BJP workers of initiating the violence and throwing stones first.
Both BJP and TMC leaders, while speaking to journalists, are sticking to their respective claims. BJP leaders say that BJP workers did not start the violence and accuse TMC of initiating the attack, while TMC leaders claim that BJP started the violence and threw stones first.
Eyewitnesses say that on Sunday night around 11 PM, supporters of both parties clashed with each other. They also reported that a personnel of the central forces was injured during the incident.
Eyewitnesses said that stones were pelted from both sides, and bombs were also exploded along with firing. To bring the situation under control, the police carried out a lathi charge.
A large number of police personnel and central forces have now been deployed in the area.
