A part of the left ear of a panchayat official in Murshidabad district was cut off on Thursday, allegedly by supporters of the Trinamool Congress.
Hazrat Omar, an executive officer of the Debipur gram panachayat, had not come to work on Wednesday, the first day of the two-day all-India general strike called by 11 major trade unions.
“I was inside my office when supporters of the Trinamool Congress came and asked me about my absence yesterday,” Mr. Omar told journalists. “They attacked me with a knife. I tried to save myself, but my ear was chopped.”
The group of about 12 persons also ransacked the panchayat office and destroyed furniture and computers, he said.
A profusely bleeding Mr. Omar was admitted to a local hospital. A complaint against five persons has been lodged at the Jalangi police station.
Workers of the panchayat held protests against the attack outside the office of the Block Development Officer, Jalangi.
Headmaster assaulted
In another incident at Hariharpara in the same district, a school headmaster who directed that the institution remain closed on Wednesday was allegedly assaulted by local Trinamool Congress workers.
Manindranath Biswas was prevented from entering the Hariharpara Netaji Higher Secondary School when he arrived early in the morning. He was forced to sit in front a stage erected by the Trinamool Congress workers and tender an apology in front of the students.
After a while, Mr. Biswas felt uneasy and was taken to a local hospital by the teachers. Posters describing Mr. Biwas as an agent of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and saying “death for Manindranath” were put up near the school premises.
Biman Bose, Chairman of the Left Front committee, condemned the incidents. The administration should take immediate steps against those resposible, he said.
