Bullet-ridden body found on eve of panchayat polls in Bengal

Kolkata, July 7 The death toll in poll-related violence ahead of the panchayat elections in West Bengal scheduled on Saturday mounted to 19 after a bullet-ridden body of a man was found in Bangaon in North 24 Parganas district on Friday.

The police are yet to ascertain the identity of the deceased, whose body was found near a pond at Kalopur village. It is believed that the deceased was a non-local person.

This was the second casualty reported since Friday morning, after a local Congress leader named Aurobindo Mondal was lynched allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters at Raninagar in Murshidabad district.

Out of the 19 deaths reported in pre-poll violence since the announcement of election date on June 8, four have been reported from Murshidabad district alone. Four deaths have also been reported from South 24 Parganas district.

Meanwhile, BJP legislator from Bangaon (South), Swapan Majumdar, accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of assembling anti-social elements in the area in order to create tension on the polling day.

“In all probability, the latest death was the result of infighting between two groups of Trinamool-backed hooligans, one local and the other coming from outside,” Majumdar alleged.

The local Trinamool leadership, however, has rubbished the allegations.

--IANS

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