Police from the state and the central forces were kept busy across constituencies as reports of violence came pouring in from Belghoria, Beliaghata, Cossipore, Halishahar and Sabong. Even policemen — including an assistant commissioner — weren't spared.
Logistical mismanagement kept on-duty personnel of central forces busy at various pockets of Kolkata.
It all began in Belghoria on Saturday when Trinamool supporters vandalized a CPM party office and then thrashed CPM leaders Sandip Mitra, Subimal Chakraborty and Jhantu Majumdar. The two parties came to blows once again on Sunday when Trinamool workers reportedly assaulted CPM men who were staging a blockade demanding arrest of Saturday's attackers. A large contingent of state police, RAF and central forces had to be rushed to the spot to control the situation.
Earlier police did arrest five persons but all were granted interim bail after being produced in court later in the day.
CPM leaders alleged that police registered cases under bailable sections deliberately. Police are acting at the behest of Trinamool leaders, they alleged. Senior Left Front leaders including Biman Bose, Manju Majumdar and Kshiti Goswami met the injured leaders. "The plan to attack our men was hatched by the local Trinamool MLA. We have informed the entire matter to the Election Commission," Bose alleged.
Local Trinamool MLA Madan Mitra rubbished the allegation and said, "Trinamool supporters were attacked by CPM cadres. Biman Bose and other CPM leaders are trying their best to create a ruckus before the polls."
Trinamool supporters on Sunday vandalized the CPM party office on Beliaghata Main Road and bashed up a CPM functionary. Cops denied having received any such complaint. But they accepted that there were complaints of bike gangs owing allegiance to the ruling party trying to intimidate voters. "We informed the EC and sent our cluster mobile teams which had begun moving in the area from Saturday to the spot," said a police officer.
In Cossipore, even the cops and mediapersons were not spared. According to a complaint CPM local committee secretary Kalyan Samajdar was on his way to buy medicines when some men allegedly Trinamool supporters beat him up. Samajdar had to be hospitalized. When assistant commissioner Ziaur Rehman went to the spot, he was roughed up along with a couple of media persons. Two different FIRs were lodged against 10 people five persons have been arrested so far.
Goons, allegedly backed by Trinamool, also ransacked housed of two CPM leaders — Debanshu Dutta and Sekhar Dutta — in Halishahar. Though no one was arrested for the attack, six CPM supporters were picked up in Sabong for launching an attack on a Trinamool cycle rally.
Since the Cossipore attack was reported around 10am on Sunday, CPM supporters took to streets as they tried to reach the police headquarters at Lalbazar. CPM leader Manab Mukherjee claimed that "virtually no central forces were visible anywhere." The party also claimed that voters in Cossipore-Beliaghata and Patuli were being "forced" to hand over their EPIC cards. But no FIR has been lodged.
Around 5.45pm, police commissioner Surojit Kar Purkayastha inspected sensitive booths in Beliaghata and went to Cossipore. This came after the commissioner was asked by special observer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh to come out with an official statement. "We have deployed mobile clusters and our men have taken positions at all polling booths," he said.
Logistical problems haunted the EC and the police department as they tried to deploy extra central forces in Kolkata. At a polling booth in Beliaghata, the polling staff occupied all rooms of a KMC school, forcing central force personnel to roam in the open. At the Harimohan College polling centre, TOI found central forces camping outside the sensitive premise as all bathrooms were found locked.
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