On Saturday (April 10), a woman lost her toddler after a frenzied mob ambushed the polling booth in Jorpatki area in Sitalkuchi Vidhan Sabha constituency of West Bengal, reported TV9 Bangla. The incident took place during the 4th phase of State legislative elections in the State. TMC, however, calls it drama.
As per reports, the woman had entered the polling booth to cast her vote. Soon, a violent mob ambushed the polling booth leading to bombing, and gunfire. The police officials were highly outnumbered by the incoming mob. “When I was about to press the button, a fight broke out. There was bloodshed everywhere. I could not come out of the polling booth with my child,” the victim said. She recounted how miscreants had pulled her by the hair and snatched her child away.
“Where will I find my child now?” she asked. The woman, in tears, informed, “I don’t want any government. Here, several Muslim women had come with Dao (machete) to slice people. They threatened to kill my child if I don’t hand it over to them.” Besides the woman’s child, one of her relatives is also missing. She has appealed to the authorities to return her child and her relative.
In the video uploaded by TV9 Bangla, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) party leader could be seen intimidating the victim who had lost her child. While pointing fingers at the woman and her aide, he directed police officials to shoo her away. TV9 Bangla reported that TMC has resorted to victim-blaming. The party has accused the woman of ‘lying’ and dubbed the incident as a ‘Dekhano Natak’ (staged drama). They have claimed that the child is in the possession of the woman. Meanwhile, the police officials have been trying to convince the woman to return home.
The voting for the 4th phase of elections in West Bengal took place on Saturday in the Northern districts of Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri. In the Southern region, polling was conducted in Hooghly, Howrah, and South 24 Parganas districts. The election has been marred by incidents of violence, particularly by TMC goons, against its rival BJP.
Mob attacks CISF in Sitalkuchi after Mamata Banerjee urged ‘gherao’
A mob attacked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) during the fourth phase of elections in West Bengal after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee asked her followers to gherao the central forces. As per reports, the incident took place at the Jorpatki area of the Mathabhanga block in the Sitalkuchi Legislative Assembly of Cooch Behar district.
Cooch Behar SP defended the CISF action against the lumpen elements, saying that the action was an act of ‘self-defense’. He said that a mob of 300-350 men had attacked the CISF team and tried to snatch their arms that forced the team to open fire on the miscreants.
As per multiple reports, four people died after central forces open-fired in a polling booth in “self-defence”, while another place one person died after miscreants opened fire. Sitalkuchi was on the boil since early morning. According to reports, bombs were hurled outside the booth. Some groups had also opened fire while the police managed to recover bombs from the area, India Today reported.
