Death toll in election violence rises to 42
Kolkata (IANS). The death toll in the violence related to the recently held panchayat elections in West Bengal has risen to 42. Three more deaths were confirmed in South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday.
Two people were killed and two policemen were injured in bullet injuries amid overnight clashes in Bhangar, the epicenter of election-related violence.
A total of five people have been killed in election violence in Bhangar since the polling dates were announced on June 8.
Raju Molla and Hasan Ali, active members of the All India Secular Front (AISF), were killed on Tuesday night.
The AISF leadership accused associates of local Trinamool Congress strongman Arabul Islam of carrying out the killings in revenge after party candidates won most of the gram panchayats in that area.
Meanwhile, two including an ASP and his bodyguard were seriously injured when they were shot at in an attempt to stop a clash between workers of two political parties in Bhangar.
ASP Maqsood Hasan is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
The third death happened in Raidighi.
Trinamool Congress worker Biplap Mandal, who was injured in a serious clash late on Tuesday, died on Wednesday morning.
Earlier on Tuesday, Governor C.V. Anand Bose had visited the Bhangar area and said that “the authorities will take strict action against those who are responsible for spreading such violence”.
“The perpetrators of violence will eventually curse the day they were born. This cannot be tolerated at any cost as it will affect the generations to come,” he said.
Later in the evening, the Governor said that his twin agenda would be to fight against corruption and end the tendency of bloodshed in any elections in the state.
He said, “In the present situation there should be a dual agenda in West Bengal. First against political violence and second against corruption. The time has come to start a crusade against both these issues. Everyone should come forward in the fight against both these menaces.
