West Bengal Polls: Five killed as violence mars 4th phase
Five people were killed in fresh election bloodshed in the Indian state of West Bengal yesterday, during the fourth phase of polling when an estimated 76.16 percent of voters exercised their franchise.
Four persons were killed when the armed federal Industrial Security Force personnel opened fire on being attacked by locals at a booth in Sitalkuchi area in Cooch Behar district, police said.
According to the police, the CISF personnel opened fire in 'self-defense' after locals attempted to "snatch their rifles."
Polling was stopped at the booth soon after the firing incident, EC sources said.
In a separate incident, an 18-year-old first-time voter was shot dead by unidentified persons outside a polling booth in Cooch Behar district, police said.
The deceased voter has been identified as one Anand Burman. According to the police, he was dragged from a booth in Pathantuli area in Sitalkuchi by a group of unidentified people and shot dead.
Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party blamed the violence on each other.
In another incident, BJP lawmaker and actress Locket Chatterjee's car and those belonging to the press were attacked by a mob at a polling booth in Hooghly district this morning. She is the party candidate in the assembly.
Voting in the fourth phase of the assembly elections covered 44 constituencies and a total of 1,15,81,022 voters were eligible to decide the fate of 373 candidates including that of many heavyweights like India's junior Minister for Environment Babul Supriyo and state cabinet ministers Partha Chatterjee and Arup Biswas.
The Assembly elections, which began on March 27, are being held in eight phases, with the last phase of polling scheduled to take place on April 29. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 2.
Previous three rounds of voting have been largely peaceful.
The Election Commission has deployed around 8,000 central armed police forces (CAPF) in 15,940 polling stations spread across the 44 constituencies.
Addressing an election rally in Siliguri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "and her goons provoked the paramilitary forces to open fire".
He requested the Election Commission to take stern action against those responsible for the incident.
"Mamata Didi and her TMC goons have become jittery because of ground swell of support for BJP," Modi told the rally.
"Didi, this violence, the tactic of instigating people to attack the security forces, the tactic of obstructing the polling process will not protect you. You have to go out of power. Didi is asking people to attack and gherao security forces who are here to protect the rights of the people of the state," he said.
The Election Commission had recently asked Mamata to explain her remark asking the people to gherao federal security personnel deployed on poll duty.
In her reply to the EC, Mamata yesterday said that she did not incite or influence voters against federal security personnel with her remarks at a poll meeting.
Speaking at a public meeting in Baduria in North 24 Parganas district, Mamata sought Indian Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation over the killings by central forces at Sitalkuchi.
Mamata questioned the CISF version of the firing in self defence in Sitalkuchi and said the state CID would probe the incident. She also appealed to people to remain calm and said her party would take out protest rallies throughout the state today.
Mamata, one of Modi's most prominent critics, has accused the BJP of attempting to import divisive sectarian politics into the state, which has a large Muslim minority.
The BJP controls a dozen of India's 28 states, with alliance partners in several others. But it has never won power in Bengal, whose 90 million people make it the fourth most populous state.