Sandeshkhali Violent Again, Women Resist 'Intimidation' with Brooms, Sticks; Clashes in Bhangor

There were complaints of voter intimidation and opposition agents being stopped from entering the booths. Clashes broke out in a few places and an EVM was thrown into the pond by villagers. Last night, some women came out to the streets with sticks protesting against alleged intimidation by TMC workers.

Kolkata: Polling began in the nine Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal as stray incidents of violence that began last night continued till today in a few areas including Bhangor and Sandeshkhali.

Violence broke out late at Friday night in Sandeshkhali under Basirhat Lok Sabha seat while clashes between All India Secular Front (AISF) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters erupted in Bhangar under Jadavpur constituency this morning.

There were complaints of alleged voter assaults and intimidation while irate villagers allegedly dropped an EVM in the pond in after Opposition agents were allegedly prevented from entering two booths in Kultali under Joynagar seat.

West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 12.63 percent till 9 am.

Sandeshkhali turned violent on poll eve as local women protested on the streets with sticks against local TMC workers who had allegedly threatened their family members. They alleged that the workers were associates of jailed TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan. Police denied the allegation saying the situation became tensed after a local BJP leader assaulted some civic volunteers.

Accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of leashing violence, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared videos of the protesting women in Sandeshkhali.

Early this morning, supporters of All India Secular Front (AISF) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) clashed with each other in Phulbari area in Bhangor. Also, some bombs were found lying on the roads.

Many supporters of both the parties were injured and allegations and counter allegations of bombing were levelled against each other. Later, locals staged a protest in front of police. It has been learnt that trouble ensued after a polling agent of AISF was reportedly stopped from entering a booth.

In Satulia area of Bhangor, AISF supporters complained that they were allegedly beaten up by TMC workers when they were on their way to cast votes. Two AISF workers suffered injuries and were admitted to Jirangacha Hospital. However, TMC has refuted the allegations.

Also, there were reports of a vehicle of AISF candidate Nur Alam Khan being vandalised allegedly by TMC supporters.

In Kultali's Meriganj booth numbers 40 and 41, trouble erupted after Opposition agents were allegedly disallowed entry. Angry villagers dropped the EVM into the nearby pond.

When a team of police came to take control of the situation, villagers started staging a protest in front of them. They alleged that they were being tortured by TMC workers and so had threw the EVM into water as protest. On hearing of the incident, election commission officials reached the spot and a probe has been launched.

Voting is underway in Dum Dum, Barasat, Bashirhat, Diamond Harbour, Mathurapur, Kolkata North, Kolkata South, Joynagar and Jadavpur amid massive security arrangements. There are 1020 CAPF personnel and 1960 quick response teams.

Some of the key candidates who are in the fray include TMC's Diamond Harbour candidate Abhishek Banerjee, BJP's Rekha Patra from Basirhat and CPI-M's Sujan Chakraborty from Dum Dum.

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