The Hindu : Front Page : 5 die in panchayat poll violence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 15, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

5 die in panchayat poll violence

Special Correspondent

CPI(M) and RSP groups hurl bombs at each other and exchange fire

— Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury.

TIGHT SECURITY: Reserve Police Force personnel keeping vigil at a booth in Singur of Hooghly district, West Bengal, during the second phase of the panchayat elections on Wednesday.

Kolkata: Five persons, including a woman, were killed in sporadic incidents of violence in the second of the three-phase panchayat elections held in five districts of West Bengal on Wednesday.

Trouble erupted in the Basanti area of South 24 Parganas district when supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) clashed with those of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) — both constituents of the Left Front.

The rival groups used bombs and fired at each other. Several houses were set ablaze. Three victims, including a woman, were stated to be RSP supporters. Many others were injured in the violence.

The police used batons to disperse the troublemakers even as there were reports of violence spreading to new areas.

The two Left parties had failed to reach an understanding on seat adjustments at the gram panchayat level there.

In another incident, a youth was killed when a bomb he was carrying exploded near a booth in the Domjur area of Howrah district. Five others were injured in the blast, Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said.

Child dies of shock

A two-month-old child reportedly died of shock in the arms of his mother who was trying to flee a booth after violence erupted in the Panchla area of Howrah district.

The voter turnout in these districts as well as in North 24 Parganas and Nadia was 55 per cent till 5 p.m., an official said.

Voting, however, continued even after the scheduled time. Sixty-two persons were arrested in connection with different incidents of violence till 5 p.m.

There was extensive police presence in the districts where polls were held with police forces from some other States and personnel of the Border Security Force supplementing the local police force, Mr. Kanojia said.

The elections in the Singur area of Hooghly district — the site of the Tata Motors’ small car manufacturing project — passed off peacefully.

The area has been in the spotlight in the wake of the agitation led by the Trinamool Congress-combine.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page