KOLKATA: A nine-year-old boy and a Trinamool worker were killed, and 10 persons, including policemen, were injured in a violent factional feud between two ruling party MLAs in Basanti in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Thursday evening.
A stray bullet hit Class IV student Riazul Molla (9) in the chest when he got caught in the crossfire while returning from school. He succumbed to his injuries while being taken to Canning sub-divisional hospital. A TMC worker Hasan Lashkar (35) succumbed to his injuries in a Kolkata hospital on Thursday night.
The turf war took place between supporters of the ruling party’s Canning East MLA, Saokat Molla, and Gosaba MLA Jayanta Naskar. “A group of 40-odd supporters of Molla attacked Naskar’s followers with bombs and bullets at Hethalkhali in Basanti. Naskar’s followers retreated but returned with guns and bombs and retaliated,” a police officer said.
Police lobbed tear gas shells to quell the 200-strong mob but were attacked. Police officials claimed they recovered some 400 empty cartridge shells from the area Friday morning. Tension prevailed in the area with shops and business remaining closed, and locals brought out a huge procession on Friday morning demanding arrest of the persons responsible for the killing of the 9-year-old boy.
“We have arrested seven persons so far and a huge police contingent has been deployed in the area to quell further spread of violence,” Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Anuj Sharma said on Friday evening.
Both Naskar and Molla have blamed each other for the violence. Education minister Partha Chatterjee said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had ordered a probe, and “Nobody involved in the factional feud will be spared from strong disciplinary action.”
The violence just after the Bengal Global Business Summit, where industry doyens claimed that peace prevailed in Bengal. Opposition parties staged demonstrations in Siliguri and Kolkata on Friday against death of the minor. “Contrary to the CM Mamta Banerjee’s claim of ‘Bengal Leads’, Bengal is bleeding under her rule,” CPM tweeted with the hashtag #BengalBleedsNotLeads.