Security forces stop BJP leaders in Basirhat while they were taking the remains of the deceased BJP workers to... Read More

SANDESHKHALI: Bengal would hope it does not go the way of two villages in North 24 Parganas — Bhangipara and Rajbari — as it witnesses a see-saw battle between Trinamool Congress and BJP in the run-up to the next state polls scheduled for 2021.

The two villages, just 3km apart and about 20km from the India-Bangladesh border, have been relatively peaceful and remained unaffected even when other areas of the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency witnessed violence — both political and otherwise — since the last state polls in 2016. Over the last weekend, however, these villages have seen some of the fiercest turf wars over control of the Hatgachhi gram panchayat. While at least three political workers of both BJP and TMC have been killed, five more are missing since the clash began on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, BJP leaders — including Bengal president Dilip Ghosh and Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee, escorting bodies of party workers Pradip and Sukanta Mandal — were stopped by the police at Malancha. While the cops wanted them to go back to Bhangipara for the last rites of the victims, the BJP leaders, wishing to take the bodies to Kolkata, got involved in a scuffle with the police.

The BJP convoy managed to bypass the police barricade but was stopped again in front of Minakha PS. BJP workers then started arranging a funeral pyre for the victims. Later, however, they decided to perform the last rites at Sandeshkhali. Late in the evening, BJP called a 12-hour bandh at Basirhat on Monday.

In the Lok Sabha polls, BJP got a lead from the two booths at Hatgachhi, under Basirhat constituency. On Saturday afternoon, Trinamool had organised a booth-committee meeting at a school in the village. Trouble started around 4.30pm when some Trinamool workers started pulling down BJP flags. They were first stopped by a sexagenarian, Basudeb Mandal, who was slashed with a knife. The attackers then struck with sticks, batons and firearms.

Pradip Mandal’s sister-in-law recounted a horrifying story. “We saw Pradip and his cousin Sukanta (Mandal) running through the bushes. There were more than 100 men with firearms and knives chasing them,” she said. “They jumped into a water body and begged for their lives. But the attackers shot them from behind. A bullet pierced Pradip’s head and came out of his left eye. Sukanta died on the spot, too.”

Other attackers ransacked around 30 houses, looking for male members of the Mandal family. “Their only fault was they were BJP supporters,” said Kushrani Mandal, Sukanta’s aunt, who was hit on the head with an iron pipe.

At Rajbari, 3km away, Trinamool worker Qayum Mollah was slain while coming back from the booth meeting. “He was shot on the forehead and stabbed,” said Mollah’s father, Liaqat Ali.

Locals said Trinamool workers did not even get a chance to take Mollah to hospital. “The attackers ensured he died on the spot. They then dragged his body to a nearby building and locked it,” said a villager. Trinamool leader Jyotipriyo Mullick said: “We can’t accept politics of violence.” Basirhat MP Nusrat Jahan too condemned the violence.

