At least 10 persons were injured and seven houses were set on fire after a clash broke out between workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition BJP at a village in Hooghly, WEst Bengal, police said.
The clash took place in Purba Krishnapur village under Arambagh Police Station over the control for lifting sand from Mundeswari river, Superintendent of Police Sunil Chowdhury said, adding that one BJP worker was arrested in this connection.
The incident was followed by the return of Jainal Abedin, an alleged ‘sand mafia’, to the village who was not staying here due to political reasons, police said.
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Abedin who was initially in CPI and later joined Congress and then BJP allegedly used to control the illegal sand mining from Mundeswari river.
Alleging that Abedin was a ‘sand mafia’, TMC’s Pursura MLA Pervez Rehman said the villagers “panicked” after seeing him in the village.
Abedin had killed the wife of a TMC supporter, the MLA alleged, and said no TMC worker was involved in the incident.
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However, local BJP leader Nasirudding Mullick said that TMC workers torched houses of Abedin and six others this morning without any provocation.
They also assaulted Abedin’s brother following which “people got angry”, he said.
Three of the 10 injured in the clash, in which bombs were also used, were admitted to a hospital, the SP said, adding, Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed at the village.
The situation is now under control, he said.