http://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/Poll-violence-rocks-south-Bengal/articleshow/20433734.cms
From Times Of India MOBILE
Poll violence rocks south Bengal
Jun 5, 2013, 12.47AM IST TNN
KOLKATA: Violence over filing nominations for panchayat elections continued in south Bengal districts on Tuesday. While a key Congress leader who was to file his nomination for an East Midnapore zilla parishad seat was arrested on a year-old charge early on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress workers prevented a rebel party leader from entering the Midnapore SDO office when he went there to file his nomination as an Independent. Arambag in Hooghly witnessed a clash between rival Trinamool factions while the body of a Trinamool supporter was recovered from a well in Burdwan's Raniganj.
East Midnapore district Congress treasurer Uttam Barik, who was to file his nomination for a zilla parishad seat on Tuesday, was picked up by police from his home at 1.30am. Dinabandhu Naskar, a resident of Kolkata, filed a complaint in Contai police station, accusing Barik of abducting him on July 1 last year and releasing him only after his family paid Rs 27lakh as ransom. In the morning, Congress workers gathered outside Contai police station and blocked roads leading to the local BDO office. Just then, a rally of Trinamool supporters was proceeding towards the Contai SDO office with party candidates who were to file their nominations. A scuffle broke out between the Congress and Trinamool workers.
District Trinamool leader Mahmood Hossain alleged that some of their party workers were beaten up in the scuffle and two of their bikes damaged. RAF personnel dispersed the crowd after a lathicharge. District Congress president Asit Pal alleged that Barik's arrest was politically motivated to prevent him from filing his nomination and that in Contai town, Barik's popularity is no less than Trinamool strongman Subhendu Adhikary's. Congress has nominated Barik for the Deshapran II zilla parishad seat against Trinamool's Mahmood Hossain, the present zilla sahasabhapati. Pal said Hossain will be on slippery ground if Barik contests. Barik was later produced in court and remanded in seven days' police custody. He managed to file his nomination papers before the magistrate but it could not be submitted as the time for filing was over for the day. Barik's papers will be submitted on Wednesday.
In Midnapore town, SDO Amitabha Dutta had to intervene when Trinamool supporters blocked entry of opposition candidates coming to file their nominations in his office. The blockade was particularly staged to prevent rebel Trinamool leader Kochi Tudu from filing as an Independent. Though Dutta's intervention ensured the arrest of two Trinamool workers and dispersal of the rest, Tudu meekly left soon after arrival. His supporters said he feared attacks on himself and his home.
But in Arambag, members of rival Trinamool factions from Goghat filed nominations at the SDO office, albeit after a clash between them in which seven-eight persons sustained serious head injuries. Arambag IC Sukomol Das led a large force to the spot and dispersed the mob after a lathicharge. In Chinsurah, Manuja Bibi, whose husband was allegedly killed in the custody of Dhaniakhali police station, filed her nomination as a Congress candidate from the Joyrambati seat of Somashpur gram panchayat in Dhaniakhali.
In Raniganj, the body of Trinamool supporter Madhai Das, 32, was found in an abandoned well at Narayankuri village. Trinamool supporters allegedly looted a shop owned by CPM candidate Sajen Bauri and ransacked his house and that of another party candidate Ganesh Gorai. Later, CPM supporters retaliated. RAF personnel arrested Ganesh Gorai and Sajen Bauri while police dispersed the mob after a latchicharge. Bapi Mondal, son of Trinamool's Raniganj block president Senapati Mondal, an aide of agriculture minister Moloy Ghatak, was arrested with another partyman.
From Times Of India MOBILE
Poll violence rocks south Bengal
Jun 5, 2013, 12.47AM IST TNN
KOLKATA: Violence over filing nominations for panchayat elections continued in south Bengal districts on Tuesday. While a key Congress leader who was to file his nomination for an East Midnapore zilla parishad seat was arrested on a year-old charge early on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress workers prevented a rebel party leader from entering the Midnapore SDO office when he went there to file his nomination as an Independent. Arambag in Hooghly witnessed a clash between rival Trinamool factions while the body of a Trinamool supporter was recovered from a well in Burdwan's Raniganj.
East Midnapore district Congress treasurer Uttam Barik, who was to file his nomination for a zilla parishad seat on Tuesday, was picked up by police from his home at 1.30am. Dinabandhu Naskar, a resident of Kolkata, filed a complaint in Contai police station, accusing Barik of abducting him on July 1 last year and releasing him only after his family paid Rs 27lakh as ransom. In the morning, Congress workers gathered outside Contai police station and blocked roads leading to the local BDO office. Just then, a rally of Trinamool supporters was proceeding towards the Contai SDO office with party candidates who were to file their nominations. A scuffle broke out between the Congress and Trinamool workers.
District Trinamool leader Mahmood Hossain alleged that some of their party workers were beaten up in the scuffle and two of their bikes damaged. RAF personnel dispersed the crowd after a lathicharge. District Congress president Asit Pal alleged that Barik's arrest was politically motivated to prevent him from filing his nomination and that in Contai town, Barik's popularity is no less than Trinamool strongman Subhendu Adhikary's. Congress has nominated Barik for the Deshapran II zilla parishad seat against Trinamool's Mahmood Hossain, the present zilla sahasabhapati. Pal said Hossain will be on slippery ground if Barik contests. Barik was later produced in court and remanded in seven days' police custody. He managed to file his nomination papers before the magistrate but it could not be submitted as the time for filing was over for the day. Barik's papers will be submitted on Wednesday.
In Midnapore town, SDO Amitabha Dutta had to intervene when Trinamool supporters blocked entry of opposition candidates coming to file their nominations in his office. The blockade was particularly staged to prevent rebel Trinamool leader Kochi Tudu from filing as an Independent. Though Dutta's intervention ensured the arrest of two Trinamool workers and dispersal of the rest, Tudu meekly left soon after arrival. His supporters said he feared attacks on himself and his home.
But in Arambag, members of rival Trinamool factions from Goghat filed nominations at the SDO office, albeit after a clash between them in which seven-eight persons sustained serious head injuries. Arambag IC Sukomol Das led a large force to the spot and dispersed the mob after a lathicharge. In Chinsurah, Manuja Bibi, whose husband was allegedly killed in the custody of Dhaniakhali police station, filed her nomination as a Congress candidate from the Joyrambati seat of Somashpur gram panchayat in Dhaniakhali.
In Raniganj, the body of Trinamool supporter Madhai Das, 32, was found in an abandoned well at Narayankuri village. Trinamool supporters allegedly looted a shop owned by CPM candidate Sajen Bauri and ransacked his house and that of another party candidate Ganesh Gorai. Later, CPM supporters retaliated. RAF personnel arrested Ganesh Gorai and Sajen Bauri while police dispersed the mob after a latchicharge. Bapi Mondal, son of Trinamool's Raniganj block president Senapati Mondal, an aide of agriculture minister Moloy Ghatak, was arrested with another partyman.
