The police and Rapid Action Force personnel had to fire teargas shells and resort to lathicharge to control the stone-pelting mob. Nine police officers, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Swapan Roy were injured. Both the parties, however, alleged that police beat up the party workers indiscriminately. While CPM claimed that 20 of their party supporters were injured, the Trinamool said 15 of their workers were hurt in the clash.

“They were surrounded by armed cadres, who were carrying arms. We were trying to escort the female workers inside, when they started to brickbat us,” said Trinamool’s Debabrata Majumdar.

The election had to be deferred by an hour and the CPM walked out of it. After the Trinamool supporters took out victory rally, the CPM declared a 12-hour bandh in all the wards of Borough 11 on Saturday to protest against today’s incident. “We will protest by holding a 12-hour bandh, but E M Bypass, Railways and Metro services will be kept out of the purview of the bandh,” said CPM’s Chandana Ghosh Dastidar.

From the beginning, the CPM councillors were against the reshuffling of the wards in Borough 11 — wards 101 and 102 have been replaced by wards 103 and 104 — by the new Trinamool led civic body.

The clash broke out after CPM councillors started demonstrating and shouted slogans in front of the Borough 11 office at 11 am. The Trinamool members allegedly retorted by pelting stones and bricks at protesting CPM members. “We were protesting against the unjustified reshuffling. It would have been easier if ward 104 would have remained in Jadavpur as before. Now, people have to travel all the way to Baghajatin for every single official work,” said Dastidar. Leader of the Opposition at KMC Rupa Bagchi was also injured.