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Five CPM activists shot, even as EC reviews poll arrangements
Subrata
Nagchoudhury
Kolkata,
May 3:
Five persons were killed this afternoon in Canning (West) in South
24-Parganas, even as Chief Election Commissioner M. S. Gill reviewed
the election arrangements in West Bengal.
The killings are believed to be a result of internal fights of CPI(M)
workers as four of the killed were identified as CPI(M) supporters
while one belonged to a breakaway CPI(M) faction. A senior state
government official confirmed that killings were related to ‘‘political
rivalry’’.
The incident occured at about 12.30 p.m. near Canning Bazar. A group
of armed men shot CPI(M) supporters who were walking along a railway
track. The dead were identified as Mohiuddin Mollah, Rafique Dhali,
Ahmed Dhali and Siddiqi Laskar.
The killings could be in retaliation for the murder of Mansur Mollah,
also a CPI(M) supporter recently.
Police contingents were rushed to the area and shops downed shutters
as news of killings spread.
The former district secretary of the CPI(M) in South 24-Parganas,
Samir Pututunda who recently joined the Party for Democratic Socialism
said he was yet to get the details of the incident but said it seemed
like CPI(M)’s internicine war.
The Chief Election Commissioner said he had a detailed review of
the situation in Bengal and might send some more central forces
to Bengal.
‘‘Bengal has already been given the maximum number of
central forces and the state chief electoral officer has been directed
to effectively utilise the forces instead of keeping them as reserves,’’
Gill said.
According to the assessment given to him, about 14 Assembly constituencies
out of a total of 294 were ‘‘sensitive,’’ for
which more EC observers would be sent.
‘‘We expect the observers to be aggressively active,’’
said Gill. The election commissioner said one observer for West
Bengal had to be sacked but refused to give
reasons.
Referring to the all-party meeting he held earlier, Gill said,‘‘my
request to them was to use restraint. Senior leaders of all the
parties should take some responsibility to see that the attack on
rival camps does not cross the limits of decency’’.
When asked about Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to accept security,
Gill said he was seized of the matter.‘‘The top leaders
should have security. One should not blame police officers for not
doing their duty,’’ Gill said without naming anyone.
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