WB panchayat polls: Violence continues, death toll rises to 10

Kolkata: The death toll in the fourth phase of West Bengal panchayat polls has risen to 10 on Tuesday. A Congress activist was shot dead in the Lakshminarayanpur area of Murshidabad in the morning. The Congress alleged that both the CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress were jointly involved in the murder.

A CPI(M) activist who was injured in a clash with the Congress supporters in the Hasanpur area of Murshidabad on Monday died on Tuesday morning. Father of an Independent candidate who was shot in the Bolpur area of Birbhum on Monday has succumbed to his injuries today morning.

The fourth phase of polls began on Monday amidst more violence. A CRPF personnel allegedly opened fire and killed a voter in the Ratua area of Malda. This was a fall out of trouble over allegations of booth capturing in a polling station housed at the Sambalpur High School in that area.

Meanwhile, Naxals have put up posters in Birbhum warning people against voting.

Two people, reportedly belonging to the CPI(M), were found dead in the Mayureswar area of Birbhum. The police claimed that they might have died in a crude bomb explosion. Another CPI(M) worker was also killed in the Mayapur area of Nadia.

A woman also died in Beldanga area of Murshidabad when a crude bomb was hurled at her. The police said there were clashes in the Muhammad Bazar of Birbhum in which some people were injured.

The five-phased panchayat polls that began on July 11 has seen a lot of upheaval, bloodshed and violence throughout. Three Congress workers were also killed on Sunday in four districts of West Bengal and at least 100 houses vandalised and looted in South 24-Parganas district on Sunday. While the fourth phase is on Monday, the final phase will be on July 25.

On the continuing violence, a CPI(M) leader Mohd Salim had said the TMC leaders create a atmosphere wher people will be terrorized. "The TMC leaders are assigned to do just one work that is to creat threat and create a atmosphere where people will be terrorized. The TMC MLAs issues threat on camera and you will find no action by police," he had said.

(With additional inputs from PTI)