KOLKATA: A cut money agitation turned violent as a group of local residents attacked the house of a Trinamool Upa Pradhan in Hooghly and set his car on fire.
In Birbhum, bombs were hurled at policemen when they tried to stop agitating locals, who were on their way to local Trinamool leaders’ houses, to stage a demonstration against cut money.
In Hooghly, the attackers, on Saturday midnight, also tried to break open the door of upa-pradhan of Jejur gram panchayat Gopal Chakrabarty’s house. Chakrabarty alleged his house was attacked three times on Saturday.
“Around midnight, we heard a commotion in front of our house and saw a group of 30 men assembled. They vandalised my car and set it on fire. We could not protest or come out in fear,’’ he said.
Police sources said the local residents asked Chakrabarty to hold a meeting with the beneficiaries of government schemes from whom he allegedly had taken cut money. The villagers turned violent after Chakrabarty refused.
As news of the attack spread, the police arrived. While conducting raids in the area, 55-year-old Basanti Koley, who was fleeing fearing police action, tripped and fell.
She was taken to a local healthcare centre where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
The BJP alleged Basanti was a victim of police highhandedness but Trinamool said she died of cardiac arrest.
A march at Sadaipur area in Birbhum turned violent as a group of protesters marching towards a local TMC leader’s house hurled bombs at police.