Express News Service
NORTH DINAJPUR (WEST BENGAL): Violence erupted in the fourth phase of election in West Bengal on Saturday, leaving five persons dead, four of them in Sitalkuchi, Cooch Behar, after central forces opened fire on them.
The fifth person, a first-time voter, was shot dead allegedly by a Trinamool Congress supporter in the same area.
In a preliminary report, the police said Central Industrial Security Force personnel opened fire after a group of 200-odd villagers allegedly attacked them and tried to snatch their weapons.
The incident took place a day after the Election Commission served a notice on chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her statement against the central force deployed on election duty in the state.
In a rally, Mamata had asked women electorates to gherao central force personnel, accusing the troops of working at the behest of the BJP.
Cooch Behar superintendent of police Debasish Dhar said the mob attacked the CISF personnel after a rumour that a child was beaten up by the central force personnel in the area.
According to police sources, around 9.35 am a Quick Reaction Team of the CISF led by coy commander inspector E. Sunil Kumar was attacked by a mob of 50-odd locals in front of booth No 126 when they were patrolling the area along with local police personnel to clear unlawful assembly of villagers.
“The villagers scuffled with the central force personnel in which a child fell down. The mob turned violent and started damaging the vehicles. In self-defense, the CISF personnel fired six rounds in the air to disperse the attackers. An SOS was sent and additional CISF personnel arrived at the spot,” a police officer said.
Shortly after the mob was dispersed, a 200-strong group gathered and accused the CISF of beating the child. They started beating a home guard and a Asha worker who were on duty at the booth, the police said.
“The CISF personnel tried to pacify the attackers who entered the booth and started assaulting the polling personnel. A section of the miscreants tried to snatch the rifles from the CISF. The troops again fired two rounds in the air but the attackers did not pay any heed to the warning,” the police officer said. “The mob started advancing aggressively towards the CISF personnel who sensed imminent danger to their lives. They fired seven more rounds towards the advancing mob. Other than the deceased, three others were also injured in the firing.”
Mediator told to ensure safe transit of jawan
“We were dropped at Tarrem in Bijapur by the police on Thursday morning and our onward journey of about 15 km was with the local journalists on their motorcycles,” Saini and Boraiyya said.
They were told by the Maoists to reach Jonaguda. “The Maoists had sent their messenger to Jonaguda, where we had to wait for 20 minutes. We reached the jan adalat spot around 9 am. The entire proceeding was conducted out by a woman Maoist,” Boraiyya said.
“The talks with the Maoists were constructive, they didn’t raise any demand for the release of the jawan,” Saini further said. Boraiyya’s family subsists on his monthly pension and a 12-acre of agriculture land.
“As the head of a tribal body, I work among our community to create awareness on education and against social evils. We also ensure that the culture of tribals remains intact ,” he added.
“For us both Saini and Boraiyya were facilitators rather than mediators. Their credibility worked to achieve the goal,” said Bastar IGP Sunderraj P. Saini. Boraiyya revealed the Maoists told them to ensure the jawan reaches his home in Jammu safely.
