TMC leader allegedly killed in East Midnapore hours before 6th phase of LS polls

Kolkata: A panchayat-level Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was allegedly killed on Friday night in the East Midnapore district hours before the polling for the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal.

Police have identified the deceased as Sheikh Maibul, a local TMC leader of the Mahishadal area. 

“One person was killed in Mahishadal on Friday night after he was attacked with sharp weapons. An investigation is going on. Five persons have been detained”, a police officer aware of the matter said.

TMC has alleged that Maibul was killed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed goons.

This is the second incident in the last 72 hours in East Midnapore.

Earlier, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) woman worker identified as Rathibala Ari was allegedly killed on Thursday at Nanidgram in Tamluk triggering violent protests.

The two parties have levelled allegations of voters being threatened and booth agents being attacked. 

“Two of our agents have been kidnapped and we have no information about their whereabouts. BJP goons have snatched EPIC cards of voters in some areas. A makeshift bamboo bridge was broken so that voters can’t reach the polling station,” Debangshu Bhattacharya, TMC candidate in Tamluk, told media reporters.

Hiran Chatterjee, BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Ghatal in West Midnapore was seen engaging in heated arguments with the police.

“Central forces are inactive. TMC is not allowing BJP’s agents to enter the booths in many areas,” he told media persons.

The polling for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha election in the eastern state began at 7am on Saturday.

Eight Lok Sabha seats – Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura and Bishnupur – went into polls in the sixth phase.

Until 9am the voter turnout in the eight seats was 16.5% with Tamluk registering the highest turnout of 19%. Purulia with 12.3% recorded the lowest turnout.