Trinamul Panchayat Head's House Set on Fire in Malda, Sparking Political Violence Between Two Villages

The head of the Kaligram panchayat, which is administered by Trinamul, said that members of the Congress and CPM had set fire to his home on Wednesday, sparking a violent political altercation between the people of two villages in the Chanchal-I block of Malda over a football match played on Mahalaya.

The distance between the region and the district office is around 70 kilometers.

Despite the fact that the leaders of the Congress and CPM in Chanchal denied the accusations, the situation descended into violence on Wednesday when the two parties fought.

The people from the villages of Pransagar and Nimtala got into a fight on October 14 during the football match.

Nine days later, on October 23, the people of Pransagar said that they were assaulted by his goons, Rezaul Khan, the leader of the Kaligram panchayat, who had supported Nimtala village.

Shahazan Sheikh, Abdul Sheikh, and Nurul Islam, three villagers, said that Khan and his hired men destroyed four stores by hurling gasoline bombs at them. The fire was put out by two fire engines.

But Khan has refuted the accusations.

Khan said on Wednesday that a few members of the Congress and CPM broke into and set fire to his home early on.

His followers staged a sit-in protest along the Chanchal-Ashapur state route when the word got out.

After a while, a few Congress and Left workers arrived at the location and requested that the Trinamul workers remove the roadblock.

A fight broke out. Violence soon broke out in the region. Bricks, sticks, and iron rods were used by both sides to assault one another.

"CPM and Congress thugs brutally beat up Trinamul supporters. Their weapons were keen. They severely thrashed my brother Imran. Since they were unable to defeat Trinamul politically, they are attempting to seize control of the region. They are using the recent altercation between the two communities as justification for this, according to Khan.

When fighting persisted, more troops commanded by Chanchal sub-divisional police officer Suvendu Mandal arrived at the scene in addition to a Chanchal police squad. The crowd dispersed after a police lathi-charge.

Fifteen people were hurt on both sides, according to police sources. A few are receiving care at nearby hospitals.

So far, six people—three on each side—have been taken into custody.

"No one will be allowed to disobey the law. There is a police march going on in the vicinity. "Our officers are keeping an eye on the villages as well," a senior police official said.

Congressmen attributed the incident on Khan.

"In an attempt to protect himself and his family, he (Khan) has been attempting to incite conflict in the community and making unfounded accusations. There was no political altercation. His hooliganism caused a simple altercation to escalate into such a confrontation, according to Kaligram panchayat member Aminul Khan, who is elected to the Congress.