PARUI (BIRBHUM): Violence ruled Parui area of West Bengal’s Birbhum district for the third successive day on Sunday as a 17-year-old BJP supporter was killed.

A script perfected in Nandigram was replayed to perfection in Parui as a large police contingent led by Birbhum SP Alok Rajoria was made to scramble from one hotspot to another as a coordinated attack ostensibly by armed militia struck with guerrilla-like precision.

Sheikh Jasim was killed in Chowmandalpur village but what exactly happened is still not known. Heavy clashes erupted in the morning and within hours spread like wildfire to Jadavpur and Sirsita villages which are 5 km from away from each other.

Jasim’s body was recovered by Rajoria’s team after it rushed to Chowmandalpur. Prima facie, Jasim was shot and his throat slashed with a sharp weapon. Police detained Jasim’s father and a few others. They were brought to Parui police station but later released.

Ekramul Haque, Jasim’s father, alleged, "My son (dressed in jeans and T-shirt) and a few others were working in the paddy field. Suddenly Trinamool Congress goons attacked them with firearms. My son could not escape and was shot there by Trinamool Congress and police."

BJP national secretary Sidharth Nath Singh said he would take up the supporter’s death in Parui with the minorities affairs ministry. "This is the fifth death of a BJP supporter in Bengal. And all are Muslims," he said.

As violence broke out between BJP and Trinamool supporters in Sirsita, terrorized women and children took shelter in the village mosque. Hossain Aziz from Sirsita was taken to Suri hospital with a bullet injury in his right leg. Though villagers said several others were injured, barring Hossain no one was hospitalised.

Most BJP supporters in Sirsita had left the village after Saturday’s violence when police were forced to open fire. Sheikh Safikul, a villager who identified himself as a Trinamool supporter, said: "Clashes have been going on for the last three days. When BJP supporters attacked us, we defended ourselves."

Sunday’s violence also singed Jadavpur — hardly 5km from Sirsita. The house of Mahasin Mollaha, a Trinamool leader of Jadavpur village panchayat, was attacked and looted.

"We were asleep when bombs were hurled at our house. Hundreds of BJP supporters broke in with bombs and firearms and started looting. My husband managed to escape through the back door and jumped into a pond. The attackers were looking for him. They damaged furniture and a motor bike and took away whatever they could find," his wife Kamrunnihar Bibi said.

Around 10 homes belonging to supporters of this Trinamool-dominated village were also looted. The attackers escaped before police could arrive. Seikh Monai, a BJP supporter, said: "Mollaha was very corrupt. It was their party supporters who attacked his house."

Trinamool’s Birbhum president Anubrata Mondal said: "BJP members, with CPM’s help and hired goons, attacked the villages and looted the houses of our workers. We have told our workers not to indulge in violence, so they were restrained."

Dudhkumar Mondal, BJP’s district president, chose to describe the attack on Mollaha’s house as "mass-resistance". "What happened today was due to failure of police. They should play a neutral role and not act on Trinamool’s instruction. One of our supporters was killed when he was working in a paddy field. In Sirsita, our supporters were forced to leave their homes."

