Two die in Bengal police firing

KOLKATA - Two people were killed in police firing in West Bengal’s Burdwan district Wednesday after they attacked the security forces with bombs and firearms, the authorities said. The Trinamool Congress said the victims were its supporters.

A police team was sent to the Gyatsesagi village following a tip-off that some criminals had taken shelter there. The police were attacked by the Trinamool supporters who hurled bombs and resorted to firing, police superintendent Rajsekharan said.

“In defence, police had to fire leading to the deaths of two miscreants. Three others sustained injuries. At least eight policemen were also injured,” Rajsekharan said.

Union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy, however, claimed that heavily armed Communist Party of India (CPI-M) cadres had entered the village alongside the police to wrest control of the political turf, leading to clashes.

“As the local villagers tried to resist the goons, police opened fire killing the two workers of our party,” Roy said.

He identified the two as Azmal Sheikh and Kajal Mollah.

Roy said eight other Trinamool supporters were injured, two of whom were being treated in the SSKM hospital in the city as their condition was serious.

But CPI-M district secretary Amal Haldar said not a single CPI-M activist was present in the area during the incident.

Large parts of the state, particularly the rural areas, have witnessed recurrent political clashes between the CPI-M and the Trinamool since last years Lok Sabha polls.

With the state slated to hold assembly elections next year, the spate of violence has continued leading to scores of deaths.