Reports of more deaths pouring in in poll violence ; Repolling underway in Bengal

Kolkata/Murshidabad/Cooch Behar:Even as repolling to 697 booths across 19 districts of West Bengal's three-tier Panchayat elections is underway on Monday, reports poured in about three more deaths in Saturday's poll related violences, official sources said.

A ruling TMC supporter Shirajul Islam, a resident of Raninagar in trouble-hit Murshidabad, succumbed to his wounds on Sunday after being beaten by alleged Congress activists on Saturday. He breathed his last at the Murshidabad district hospital after futile efforts to shift him to a Kolkata hospital owing to a blockade erected at Beldanga by the agitated Congress supporters on Sunday demanding re-polling at Raninagar booth, family sources told reporters.

However, the Congress leadership denied their involvement in the assault.Meanwhile, Raninagar's RSP candidate Azabul Islam was allegedly missing from Saturday, as per his relativesl complaints at the the local police station.

Though the repolling for the Raninagar panchayat is now underway, the RSP candidate was not seen so far, even as his traumatised family was uncertain about his fate.

Sukur Ali Sheikh (70) of Bhaluka, Nadia, father-in-law of a CPI(M)'s Krishnanagar candidate, succumbed to his wounds at the district hospital on Monday, after being allegedly beaten by the TMC supporters on Saturday, the election day. CPI(M) candidate Sunita Bibi of alleged her father-law died on Monday at the Shaktinagar district hospital after being beaten by the ruling party supporters.

The TMC, denied the allegation.The decomposed body of Austo Mondal (35) the brother in law of an opposition candidate, was found in the jute field at Dhubulia early on Monday in the Nadia district. Candidate Sunita Mondal alleged that her brother-in-law was murdered and demanded a CBI probe into the mysterious death.

A report from Cooch Behar said the bereaved mother, of 23-year-old Chiranjeet Karji, on Monday refused to cast vote at a booth on the re-polling day. Chiranjeet, a voter came along with his mother to cast vote on Saturday, fell to a bullet pumped in by alleged vote looters. Chiranjeet was on the queue to vote but suddenly as crude bombs were being thrown on the queue, he panicked and took her mother to safety and came back to cast vote. But there he was shot at and died an hour later at the Dinhata's Kalirpath Madhyamik school on Saturday in Cooch Behar.

Chiraneet was a daily wage labourer, and the sole bread earner for his mother and bedridden father. Meanwhile, the pictures of Monday's polling were different from Saturday. Under tight vigil of the central paramilitary forces. in all 697 booths peaceful voting was reported barring a centre at Jalpaiguri in North Bengal. Official sources said voting stated hours later as the poll officials came late as they was a delay in informing them of their poll centre.
(UNI)