COOCH BEHAR: The two neighbouring districts of Cooch Behar and Alipurduar in north Bengal have been on the boil since Thursday night following attacks on rival political leaders in Mathabhanga and Malbazar.
Unidentified bikers opened fire on BJP district general secretary Avijit Barman’s car while Trinamool-run Alipurduar zilla parishad saha sabhadhipati Monoranjan De was shot at and injured by men tailing him in a car.
Mathabhanga turned into a battlefield on Friday as BJP supporters laid siege to the local police station and claimed “Trinamool goons” had hurled bombs at their protest rally in front of cops. Angry BJP supporters later went on the rampage in Mathabhanga town and ransacked a Trinamool party office. Police arrested 100 from the town.
BJP district president Malati Rava said: “Bombs were hurled (by TMC men) at our rally and police remained mere spectators. Later, they arrested 100 of our cadres. Many of our men sustained bomb injuries.” Trinamool Youth Congress secretary Arunabha Guha countered the allegations. “No one lobbed bombs on the BJP rally. Its supporters made an unprovoked attack on three of our party offices. They terrorised the entire town and mobbed the thana,” Guha said.
In neighbouring Alipurduar, Trinamool supporters took out a protest rally on Friday, hours after the attack on Monoranjan De, prompting tourism minister Goutam Deb to demand an immediate inquiry. De is admitted to a Siliguri nursing home with a leg wound.