Congress leader Aadhir seeks compensation for kin of dead in Bengal polls

The Calcutta High Court on Monday allowed Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to file a petition seeking compensation to victims of panchayat poll violence in West Bengal and a probe by an independent agency.

Submitting personally before the bench presided by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, the state Congress president alleged that entire West Bengal was hit by unprecedented violence during polling on July 8.

Chowdhury said most of the deceased belonged to the poor, vulnerable and underprivileged sections and urged the court to ensure that the next of kin of the deceased and the injured got monetary compensation.

He also sought an investigation into the incidents of violence, including killings, and use of firearms and crude bombs by an independent agency.

The bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, granted leave to him to file the petition.

Bengal ballot

Polling was held on Saturday in over 61,000 booths for the three-tier panchayat system. In several places, false votes were allegedly cast, and ballot boxes were looted, set on fire or vandalised, leading to clashes.

A total 5.67 crore people living in the state’s rural areas were eligible to decide the fate of 2.06 lakh candidates in 73,887 seats of the panchayat system.

(With agency inputs)