Two party workers, minor injured in police firing in WB: BJP

The West Bengal BJP leadership has claimed that two party supporters and a minor suffered bullet injuries when police opened fire at them during a clash with TMC activists at Patrasayar in Bankura district.

The incident happened on Saturday evening when the three chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans in front of some Trinamool Congress workers, who were returning from a rally led by state minister Suvendu Adhikari, BJP leaders said.

Clashes broke out between the two groups allegedly over the chant, followed by a scuffle.

The BJP said police had fired to disperse the mob, a claim the police and the TMC denied.

"We resorted to lathicharge and fired tear gas shells when our personnel were pelted with stones," a police officer said.

Local BJP leaders said that the three persons, including a 14-year-old boy, was admitted to the Bankura Sammiloni Medical College and Hospital.

"Incidents of such clashes are nothing new. The state adminstration and police have completely failed to control the situation. The TMC government is slowly turning the state into a police state," Bankura BJP MP Subhas Sarkar alleged.

Rejecting the charge, senior TMC leader and minister Subrata Mukherjee said blank cartridges should have been lying around the spot if the police had opened fire.

Meanwhile, police has arrested BJP's local unit president Tamal Kanti Guin for his alleged involvement in the violence.

The saffron party on Sunday organised a road blockade in the area to protest against the incident.