Tanmoy Tiwari at a private nursing home in Malda. Partha Paul Tanmoy Tiwari at a private nursing home in Malda. Partha Paul

An RSS activist who suffered a bullet injury when a protest rally of Muslims against Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari turned violent at Kaliachak in Malda on Sunday, has claimed that the mob was raising slogans against the Modi government.

“They were chanting slogans against the Modi government. Some from the crowd went around ransacking shops and burning houses of the other community,” 19-year-old Tanmoy Tiwari alias Gopal Tiwari told The Indian Express Tuesday.

Gopal, who works as a priest, is now recuperating at a private nursing home here. He said he was at the Shani Mandir near Kaliachak police station with a few others when the arson began. “Initially we tried to resist the attack but looking at the their numbers, we decided to run. While we were running away someone opened fire and I got hit on the calf muscle of my left leg,” he added.

A friend took Gopal to a relative’s house nearby first and then to Malda Sadar Hospital. “The doctors said that the bullet has been lodged inside my leg but expressed helplessness as they were not equipped for an operation. They told me to either go to Kolkata or to a private nursing home,” Gopal added.

He was admitted to a private nursing home on Monday where doctors took out the bullet.

His family members at Hindupara in Baliadanga area under Kaliachak police station are now seeking help to pay for his medical expenses. His father works as a daily labourer and together they have to fend for a family of four, comprising Gopal, his parents and his unmarried sister.

“We plan to approach local MP Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury for financial help to the family or else they will have to mortgage their house. There had been no help so far from the party,” said Dhananjay Saha, his cousin.

Gopal’s sister, Suparna Tiwari said that they have already taken a loan of Rs 45,000. “We don’t know when he will be discharged. Already for the operation, tests and medicines we have spent about Rs 45,000, which we had to borrow from family and friends,” she told the The Indian Express.

On January, the rampaging mob, which was protesting against Kamlesh Tiwari’s alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammed set on fire about two dozen vehicles and attacked and ransacked the Kaliachak police station before setting it on fire.

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