Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday led a procession by hundreds of party men at Jamuria in West Bengal, condemning the killing of a worker there on Monday. She went to the victim's home and condoled with the bereaved family. Rabin Kazi was fatally hit by a car during an altercation between two groups in the course of an election campaign by Trinamool candidate Prabhat Chatterjee.
Condemning the killing, Ms. Banerjee, who was accompanied by Union Minister of State for Shipping and party associate Mukul Roy, appealed for calm in the area.
SI suspended
Meanwhile, the State's Chief Electoral Officer, Sunil Gupta, said a sub-inspector of the local thana, Asit Mondal, was suspended and departmental proceedings were initiated against him based on a report on the incident received from the Bardhaman district administration.
The suspended policeman was at the spot but was found negligent. Serious action would be taken against any another police official found negligent in taking action against the culprits, Mr Gupta said.
In Monday's incident, Mr. Chatterjee was pulled out of a car in which he was travelling and assaulted by an armed gang allegedly led by Dinabandhu Barui, stated to be a member of the local coal mafia. Kazi, who tried to protect Mr. Chatterjee, was also beaten up. Both of them then tried to flee the spot but while the candidate managed to escape, Kazi tried to prevent Barui from running away. He was then knocked down by a car in which Barui escaped, according to the police.
The police, who have arrested eight persons, are on the look-out for Barui named, among others, in the first information report lodged with the local police station. Arms and a huge quantity of cartridges have also been seized.
It's “conspiracy”
Speaking to journalists, Ms. Banerjee alleged a “conspiracy” behind the killing. A coal mafia was operating in extensive parts of Raniganj, Asansol region, and enjoying the patronage of the local CPI(M) MP, she said.
“This mafia provides money to the CPI(M) and also to a section of the police. It does not allow people to vote freely in elections and has taken away from them their democratic rights,” Ms. Banerjee alleged.
