Bengal police sanitise Jharkhand border ahead of panchayat polls

KOLKATA: The Bengal police on Sunday launched a massive operation to sanitise the West Bengal- Jharkhand border in Birbhum district which has been rocked by violence ahead of next month’s panchayat elections.

Clashes which have continued unabated for the entire period of filing nominations showed no signs of ending with violence reported even on Sunday although no nomination was filed. The nomination window closes on Monday.

Police launched the operation following information that antisocial elements from Jharkhand were entering Bengal to create problems during the polls.

“We want to ensure that no one with arms can enter the district before the polls and this checking will continue,” said Birbhum district police superintendent, Neelkanth Sudhir Kumar.

On Sunday morning a housewife at Mallarpur in Birbhum district was severely injured, after crude bombs hidden in a country oven (tandoor) blasted as she went to ignite it. The blast blew up the left hand of Rubina Bibi. Her eight year old son was also severely injured. Both have been admitted to a local hospital.

At Keshiari in West Midnapore district, a local TMC leader was beaten up allegedly by BJP activists on Sunday. The BJP leadership, however, has denied their involvement with the incident.

In Kolkata, a group of intellectuals and civil society members took out a peace rally to protest the recent trend of communal violence rocking the state. Veteran poet, Shanka Ghosh, theatre personality Rudaprasad Sengupta and film director, Tarun Majumdar participated in the rally. Some leading Left Front leaders including Left Front chairman and CPI(M) politburo member, Biman Bose also joined the rally without carrying party flag. Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh ridiculed the participants calling them “irrelevant intellectuals”. “These intellectuals are biased and hence we are not giving any importance to the rally,” Ghosh said.