Violence erupts in Bengal's Bhangar, ten injured

Kolkata, May 31 (IANS) At least ten people were injured in pre-poll violence that erupted in the Bhangar area of West Bengal's Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency on Friday.

Jadavpur is going to polls in the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday.

Since Friday morning there have been repeated reports of clashes between the local Trinamool Congress and All India Secular Front (AISF) activists in Bhangar, where two groups hurled crude bombs towards each other. According to local police sources as many as 10 persons were injured in the clashes.

According to the cops, the violence is a continuation of the tension on Thursday morning, after an AISF activist was severely beaten up by the ruling party activists following his refusal to participate in a roadshow on Wednesday afternoon in support of Saayoni Ghosh, the actress-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress candidate from Jadavpur.

The AISF activists retaliated and in that, a local Trinamool Congress leader was beaten up severely. Since then tension has prevailed in Bhangar, and clashes have been taking place between the two groups.

In the wake of the continued violence at Bhangar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to restrict the movement of Saokat Molla, the Trinamool Congress legislator from the Bhangar-adjacent Canning-Purba Assembly constituency on the polling day.

As per ECI’s order, Molla, who has a substantial organisational influence in Bhangar also, will not be able to step out of his constituency of Canning-Purba throughout Saturday.

Molla has, however, blamed the AISF activists for the continuing tension in Bhangar. "The AISF legislator from Bhangar, Naushad Siddique, is responsible for this entire tension there. He should be arrested,” Molla said.