Accusing the police of siding with the Trinamool Congress, armed CPM cadres ransacked a police camp in trouble-torn Khanakul in Hooghly district on Sunday morning and confined police personnel for over six hours in their camp.

According to the police, over 1,000 CPM cadres, armed with tangis and other sharp-edged weapons, had assembled outside the Chatrashal police camp.

The cadres were demanding unconditional release of one of their party colleagues, Gour Pramanik of Arunda village, who was arrested for assaulting a Trinamool supporter on Saturday.

The mob pelted stones at the camp and broke down windows after police refused to set Pramanik free. An assistant sub-inspector and six constables virtually remained confined till noon due to violent protests by the CPM cadres.

The police had to resort to lathicharge to break the cordon. In the clash that ensued around a dozen CPM supporters were injured.

After the CPM cadres learnt that Pramanik had been shifted to Arambag sub-divisional court, they left the camp and moved to Khanakul police station. The cadres were pacified after some senior party leaders visited the spot.

The police said Gour had led a mob that stabbed a

Trinamool Congress supporter Sheikh Asraful in the Daspur area near Khanakul on Saturday.

The mob allegedly looted cash from Asraful, a resident of Pursura, and snatched his motorbike while he was on his way to Udaynarayanpur in Howrah.

State committee member of the CPM and former MP, Anil Bose, alleged that some policemen were harassing innocent people at the instruction of the Trinamool Congress. “The protest staged by the locals was not violent and none of them had any weapons or arms. They were demanding release of Pramanik who was in no way involved in any crime,” Bose said. “If the police continue to be biased, the people will be compelled to boycott them,” he added.