The night in the West Bengal village of Sandeshkhali was heavy with silence until it suddenly broke into gunfire.
Late at night, a patrol team made up of West Bengal Police and central forces was moving through Sandeshkhali in the district of North 24 Parganas.
Without warning, the team came under fire. At least five police personnel were injured in the attack, The Statesman daily reported.
Officials said the violence happened during a clash between rival groups of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Guns and crude bombs were reportedly used during the fight.
After the incident, security forces recovered weapons from the spot.
Sandeshkhali has been in the news for months. Reports of alleged land-grabbing and sexual assault had earlier shocked the state. A key figure in these cases, local TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan, was arrested and named as the prime accused.
Violence in West Bengal was not limited to Sandeshkhali.
A day earlier, a worker for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker named Madhu Mondal lost his life in New Town, a satellite city of the state capital Kolkata. The incident happened on Tuesday during a victory procession.
According to police, an argument broke out when a BJP rally crossed paths with TMC supporters. Mondal was allegedly beaten by TMC workers.
His death led to anger among BJP supporters. They reportedly attacked houses of TMC workers in retaliation and blocked roads. To control the situation, central forces were deployed to restore order.
Earlier on Tuesday, TMC worker Abir Sheikh was hacked to death in Birbhum district. Another person was also injured.
The incident quickly turned political. TMC member of the legislative assembly-elect Bidhan Majhi accused BJP workers of the killing. However, BJP leader Shyamapada Mondal denied the allegation and demanded a fair investigation.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that four people have been killed in political unrest after the Hindu-nationalist BJP celebrated victory in state polls in West Bengal, police and party officials said yesterday.
The BJP swept polls in the key eastern state of more than 100 million people, winning 206 of the 294 assembly seats, according to results announced Monday, for its first-ever victory in West Bengal.
West Bengal had been ruled by Modi’s fierce critic and adversary Mamata Banerjee as chief minister since 2011.
Banerjee, leader of the regional TMC, also lost her seat in the polls and has rejected the results.
Police said clashes between rival party supporters erupted in Kolkata after results were announced on Monday.
Analysts say the BJP’s victory in the largely Bengali-speaking state is one of its most significant since Modi was first elected prime minister in 2014, expanding its dominance beyond the Hindi-speaking heartland of north and central India.
The BJP said two party workers were killed, while the TMC said two of their workers were beaten to death.
“Two of our workers were killed after results of the elections were announced on Monday,” BJP state leader Samik Bharracharya said, insisting that the party is “for peace”.
TMC, in a statement on social media, reported the “brutal murder” of two party workers.
“Our party offices were attacked in several areas of the state,” TMC spokesman Narendranath Chakrabort said.
“Two of the victims were grassroots political workers.”
A senior police officer, who was not authorised to speak to reporters, confirmed four deaths in clashes and said one officer had been shot in the leg. — Agencies
