Panchayat Polls: Violence engulfs rural West Bengal; Congress, CPI (M) allege brazen attacks by ruling TMC to block Opposition candidates

Despite the enforcement of Section 144, gunshots and bomb explosions continued.

The Opposition Congress and CPI (M) alleged that the ruling TMC is behind the brazen attacks on their candidates and supporters.

The situation turned volatile in Bhangor in the South 24 Parganas district as bombs exploded one after another just ahead of the end of the nomination period for the rural polls.

An ABP Ananda report showed deserted roads and shuttered shops as people mostly remained indoors amid raging violence.

As many as 600-650 bombs exploded one after the other even in the last few hours of the nomination filing, said the report.

Gunshots were heard and smoke filled the area amid unrest which started with disturbances and chaos on the first day of nomination filing.

In a major incident of violence in Dakshin Dinajpur district's Chopra, a person died on the last day of nomination filing just ahead of the closure of the filing period.

Images of rabid violence emerged on the last few hours of nomination filing as one person was killed after TMC activists allegedly sprayed bullets in a bid to scare the opposition candidates away and stop them from reaching the BDO office to submit documents to contest the Panchayat polls.

Nomination paper submission started from 12:00 pm and within 2 hrs situation in the area worsened, the ABP report said.

ABP Ananda reported that the TMC supporters allegedly attacked the Congress and CPI (M) workers in the Kathalbari area, around 7 km away from the BDO office, on their way to the BDO office.

The TMC activists attempted to block the procession but failed and allegedly resorted to indiscriminate firing, in which three people were critically injured.

All three were rushed to a hospital in the Islampur subdivision hospital. One of them, reportedly, a CPM leader and the joint candidate of the Congress CPI (M) alliance, succumbed to the bullet injuries, said the report.

Despite the daylight attack, the Congress and CPI (M) workers said they were determined to submit the nomination papers and wouldn't be cowed down by the coercive techniques of the TMC.

Meanwhile, the police reached the spot to bring the situation under control.

It is still not clear how many people were killed or injured in the shooting, said the report.