Clashes broke out between the workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress allegedly over chanting of “Jai Shri Ram” at Gurap village in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, and one person was critically injured after being hit by a bullet fired accidentally from a police revolver, the police said on Thursday.

The clashes broke out late Wednesday night and fresh violence was reported from the village on Thursday morning as well.

BJP workers, led by the party’s state general secretary Raju Banerjee, allegedly attacked the Gurap police station, ransacked two police vehicles and put up a road blockade, demanding the arrest of the policeman who had reportedly fired from his service revolver, a senior district police official said. According to Banerjee, the injured person was a BJP member.

“Our men were participating in a victory rally on Wednesday and chanting Jai Shri Ram. They were blocked by TMC goons and when the police were informed, they did not act impartially.,” he said. The accidental firing took place at around 11.45 pm on Wednesday, when a police team had gone to Gurap in Dhaniakhali to bring the situation under control, Hooghly superintendent of police (SP) Sukhendu Hira told PTI.

Dhaniakhali’s TMC MLA Asima Patra denied any involvement of the workers of her party in the incident.

First Published: Jun 28, 2019 05:44 IST