Peaceful polling,violence before and after

The first murders were of two youths in Sundarbans,South 24-Parganas,on April 21,days before the district went to polls. Mrityunjoy Sardar,30,and Arshed Gazi,34,farmers and SUCI supporters,were found murdered in a ditch a kilometre from their homes. Their families blamed the CPM,locked in a tense battle with the Trinamool-backed SUCI.

The last two murders happened on May 9 in Malda,which had elections in the April 18 first phase,and on May 10 in Joynagar,South 24-Parganas,where a third SUCI supporter was killed.

In Malda,a group stopped a bus on the Kaliachak-Mojampur highway,fired on four passengers and killed one of them. Eight men boarded the bus,two of them held guns to the driver’s head and the other six went to the rear,where one of them shot Haren Mondol,40,in the head and the rest cut open his stomach. The Congress claimed those attacked and killed were its members and that the attackers were of the CPM.

Besides these three murders and the five in between,the state has also seen a number of political clashes and attacks since polling began. On May 3,CPM and Trinamool workers clashed at Goghat in Hooghly,days after the district voted,leading to clamping of Section 144 for three days. On May 4,the day after East Midnapore voted,an alleged Trinamool attack on the CPM’s Khejuri office left 24 injured; 200 CPM workers fled their homes. On May 7 in the same district’s Haldia,alleged CPM men threw acid on the on face of Saktiprasad Mazir,a Trinamool labour union leader.

Governor M K Narayanan met top state officials to discuss how the post-counting situation should be managed. Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh,Home Secretary G D Gautama,DGP Naparajit Mukherjee and police commissioner R K Pachnanda attended the meeting where they decided to seek an extended stay,till May 23,for 140 companies Central forces.

The officials briefed the Governor about trouble-prone zones where they felt these forces should be posted,such as pockets like Goghat,Khanakul and Arambag in Hooghly,Khejuri and Nandigram in East Midnapore and Mangalkot,Raina and Ketugram in Burdwan. Another 40 companies will be posted in Jungalmahal.

Mukul Roy,Trinamool general secretary,said,“We have asked our workers and supporters in several districts to remain calm,show restraint. We have kept the Election Commission updated.”