Bengal Governor leaves for Delhi to discuss Sandeshkhali violence with Amit Shah

Bengal Governor leaves for Delhi to discuss Sandeshkhali violence with Amit Shah

Both BJP and TMC have been claiming that five each of their party supporters were killed

Sandeshkhali (North 24 Parganas)/ Kolkata, June 09 (HS): As both BJP and Trinamool Congress have been claiming that five each of their party supporters were killed and many injured in so far the largest post poll violence in West Bengal at Sandeshkhali yesterday and blaming each other, Governor Kesri Nath Tripathi left for New Delhi today to discuss the issue of law and order with the Centre and submit his report to the Union Home ministry.

Sources at the Raj Bhavan told Hindusthan Samachar here that soon after his arrival in the capital, the Governor was scheduled to hold an urgent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his North Block office before meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same issue tomorrow on his return from Maldives and Sri Lanka.

It may be recalled that since the declaration of Lok Sabha election results on 23 May in which BJP clinched as many as 18 of the total 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, reports of post poll violence between the supporters of the ruling TMC and the opposition parties had been coming from several districts in which a number of people, including several supporters of both BJP and TMC suffered injuries and their houses burnt.

But yesterday the repeated incidents of violence at Najat and Hatghachi areas under Sandeshkhali Police station area of North 24 Parganas districts crossed all limits and turned out to be the most violent so far, in which ten people of both the parties were reportedly either shot dead or hacked to death by the miscreants. Several other supporters of both BJP and TMC including some women suffered injuries and had to be hospitalised, some of them in serious condition.

Though the leaders of both BJP and TMC have been blaming one another for the violence, according to the police, clashes between the supporters of both the parties ensued after the local BJP workers took out a rally to protest the removing of party flags from their party office allegedly by TMC workers.

While TMC North 24 Parganas District President and State Food and Civil Supply minister Jyotipriya Mallick claimed that their local party leader Abdul Kaum Molla and four others were either hacked to death or shot dead allegedly by BJP workers at the rally, state BJP President Dilip Ghosh informed that five of their party workers namely – Pradip Mondal, Tapan Mondal, Sukanta Mondal, Debabrata Mondal and Shankar Mondal were killed by the ruling party goons in similar manners. Both of them also claimed that several of their party supporters including at least six women, were also injured and admitted to different hospitals.

Expressing serious concern at the repeated attacks on party workers and party offices, state BJP president sent a detailed report to the Union Home Minister last night itself and has sought immediate intervention of the Centre to prevent such violence. The party has also decided to send two party delegations separately to the affected areas of Sandeshkhali today under the leadership of Mukul Roy and Dilip Ghosh to help restore peace and tranquility in the strife torn areas where a strong contingent of police has been posted since last night as a preventive step.

Now, it remains to be seen what action the union government would take after receiving the report from the Governor also and meeting him today as such unabated political clashes in the state for the past two weeks have also been causing serious concern to the peace loving people of the state.