Tufanganj bandh: BJP supporters put up roadblocks
BJP supporters onThursday put up roadblocks on the national highway inTufanganj town of CoochBehar district during the 12-hour bandhcalled by the saffron party in the sub-division to protest thekilling of a local party leader.
The district unit of BJP blamed the TMC for thekilling of its local leader Kalachand Karmakar on Wednesdayand demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
The TMC Coochbehar district leadership has denied theallegation, claiming that the killing was the result of aclash between two feuding local clubs at Tufanganj.
BJP supporters put up roadblocks and tried to stopshops and markets from opening since the morning, even as TMCworkers tried to keep the establishments open.
Police and rapid action force (RAF) were deployed inlarge numbers in the sub-divisional town of Tufanganj to avertany untoward incident with supporters of both the BJP and theTMC confronting each other.
Government buses were plying in the sub-division, butprivate buses and other public transport like autorickshawswere out in small numbers.
BJP supporters put up a roadblock on the nationalhighway passing through Tufanganj town, leading to long queuesof goods vehicles on both directions towards Assam andSiliguri.
Police later lifted the roadblock and cleared trafficmovement on the highway, an official said.
BJP booth secretary Kalachand Karmakar (55) attemptedto pacify the clashing members of the two clubs, during whichhe also got beaten up. He collapsed on the ground and wasdeclared brought dead when taken to a hospital, according to apolice officer.
One person has been arrested and an investigation isunderway, he said.
Karmakars wife alleged he was beaten with bamboosticks.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)
