Midnight murder puts Nandigram on edge

According to the police complaint,Prasanta Mondal,a block-level leader of the Trinamool Congress in Khejuri,was shot in front of his mother,wife and children. Later,the attackers allegedly molested Mondal’s wife and raped his mother. The complaint,filed by Mondal’s wife Shefali,has named Bappa Das,son of Himangsu Das,a district committee member of the CPI(M).

Mondal’s family members complained that a police team was patrolling the area but did not come to their help.

Parbati Mondal,Mondal’s mother,was sent to Contai hospital for medical examination. Before leaving,she said that a group of 12 masked men,all of them carrying guns,came to their house around 1 a.m. on Saturday.

“They surrounded our house and called for my son Prasanta. When Prasanta went out,they started abusing him and threatened to kill him. Prasanta’s wife Shefali rushed to his rescue but she was molested. I saw one of the men fire at Prasanta. When I intervened,they raped me,” she said. “My son had been trying hard to expand the Trinamool Congress’s base in Khejuri block and the CPI(M) goons killed him,” she said.

Sher Khanchawk village is in Khejuri,a block adjacent to Nandigram. Khejuri falls under the Contai Lok Sabha seat and Nandigram falls under Tamluk Lok Sabha seat. Both constituencies go to the polls on May 7.