SITALKUCHI(Cooch Behar): A day after the firing deaths, several hundred villagers gathered at Amtali Madhyamik Siksha Kendra in Sitalkuchi, angry and tense. Such was their anger that the local administration had to seek police protection to hand over the bodies to the bereaved families.
A few metres away from the now-infamous polling booth is Jorpatki village. Hamidul Haq, 28, a mason, who was the first to be killed in the central force firing, stayed here. He is survived by his three-year-old daughter and a pregnant wife.
Hamidul’s next-door neighbour Samiul Miyan was a first-time voter and another victim. He used to work as a helper in a shop.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that Hamidul was trying to snatch a firearm from a CISF jawan. The barrel of the gun was pointed towards his chest and the bullet was fired in the tussle.”
It is believed that the CAPF has lodged a police complaint. CM Mamata Banerjee on Sunday indicated that an FIR, with legal help, will also be filed. Police said that a magisterial inquest and post-mortem has been completed. The CCTV cameras in the booth — which was under web surveillance — is reportedly damaged.
Amina Bibi, a local, said she was in the queue when suddenly a jawan opened fire at them. Villagers were visibly angry with the media. “We kept on saying that the jawans shot our villagers unprovoked. Yet the media reported that villagers had led an attack on the forces,” said a villager.