Widespread violence during rural polls in WB, 12 killed

Widespread violence during the panchayat polls in West Bengal today left at least 12 people dead and 43 injured, as 73 per cent of the electorate turned up to cast their vote.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma told reporters that there were reports of 12 deaths but only six of them have been confirmed to be poll-related. "We are looking into the cause of six other deaths," he said.

Notwithstanding the elaborate security arrangements in which 60,000 security personnel from West Bengal and other states were deployed, violence broke out in North and South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, Burdwan, Nadia, Murshidabad and South Dinajpur districts as the polling progressed.

State Election Commission (SEC) sources said 73 per cent polling was recorded till 5 pm, but many more voters were still in queue.

Polling booths were mainly targeted during the violence, following which clashes broke out between the ruling Trinamool Congress supporters and opposition party workers in several areas. Crude bombs were hurled near several polling stations.

However, DGP Surajit Kar Purakayastha said the number of deaths this time was less compared to the previous panchayat election, when 25 people died. He said three policemen were injured and 70 people were arrested in connection with the violence.

ADG Sharma said TMC activist Arif Ali Gazi died in poll-related violence in South 24 Parganas. Two other TMC workers died in Nadia, he said.

He said two CPI(M) workers died in Nandigram in East Midnapore district, while a Jharkhand Disom Party worker died in Kushmundi of South Dinajpur.

Opposition parties have accused the TMC of "unleashing a reign of terror and destroying democracy".

"First they didn't allow people to file nominations. Second after filing nominations, TMC started threatening the candidates to withdraw. The people who didn't withdraw were attacked. This is nothing but a complete destruction of democratic process," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

CPI leader D Raja said: "It was a farce of an election and the Mamata Banerjee government should have taken steps to save democracy in West Bengal."