The Martyrs Day rally was observed on July 21. (File)Over a dozen people suffered minor injuries after Trinamool Congress and BJP workers clashed in Howrah and North 24 Parganas on Sunday night and Monday.
At Howrah’s Chandrapur village, BJP supporters were allegedly beaten up by the ruling party workers for not attending the Kolkata rally. Protesting the attack, they blocked Howrah-Amta Road and clashed with police that had to use batons and lob tear gas shells to control the mob on Monday. Eight people suffered minor injuries, said police.
Though the TMC leadership Sunday said a large number of number of people attended the rally, opposition leaders claimed the attendance was much lower than last year.
“Villagers had blocked the road in peak hours. We requested them to lift the blockade but they refused. Later, some of them hurled bricks at us. We had to resort to lathicharge and lobbed tear gas shells. The blockade was lifted after an hour,” said a senior police officer from Howrah.
In North 24 Parganas district, the skirmish took place at Hirapur village in Ashoknagar. An altercation erupted on Sunday night when TMC workers were returning from the rally, sources said. This argument turned violent and workers from both the parties threw crude bombs at each other, injuring at least six people. A huge contingent of policemen controlled the situation and a police picket was stationed in the village.
“There were reports of sporadic clashes in two places after the rally. However police were prompt to control the situation. Police pickets are placed in both places,” said a home department official.
In a separate incident in Kolkata, five people were injured after TMC and BJP workers came to blows over a minor issue at a blood donation, PTI reported.
