A bamboo structure in the yard of Adhikary’s house that was pulled down allegedly by CPM supporters. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

Cooch Behar, May 15: The house of a Forward Bloc member was ransacked in a Dinhata village last night, allegedly by supporters of the CPM as the rift between the two Left Front partners widened in the district.

Sudhir Adhikary, whose house in Ruierkuthi village was under attack, was formerly a member of the CPM and had switched allegiance three months ago. Adhikary has named some local CPM members in the FIR and accused the police of being partisan. “We had informed them last night over the phone, but they came this afternoon,” said Adhikary, who is a priest and has a few hundred followers in the Bhetaguri I gram panchayat area, 15km from here.

Biswanath De Amin, a Bloc district committee member, alleged that the attack on Adhikary’s house was by CPM-sponsored goons.

“The level of violence and the manner in which they terrorised those present are deplorable. They ran inside the house hurling furniture and whatever else they could lay their hands on after chasing out the family members, including Adhikary, who fled for his life,” De Amin said. The CPM, the Bloc leader, said was scared that Adhikary’s followers might listen to their guru and vote for his new party.

De Amin said there was no guarantee that incidents like the one in Basanti yesterday, where four supporters died in RSP-CPM clashes, and today, in which the relative of an RSP minister suffered 80 per cent burns from bombs hurled by the CPM, would not happen in Cooch Behar.

The relationship between the Bloc and the CPM has worsened after the February 5 police firing. Five Bloc supporters were killed then. The recent clashes between the two parties and the failure to arrive at seat adjustments for the panchayat pollshave only fuelled it. According to political observers, with the Bloc siding with anti-Left parties, the CPM has become “isolated and desperate”.

Other Front members like the RSP and the CPI, too, have accused the CPM of spreading terror in villages where their cadre are making the rounds on motorcycles.

The district president of the Trinamul Congress, Rabindranath Ghosh, claimed that the CPM base in Tufanganj subdivision had been breached by his party. “The CPM is therefore resorting to terror tactics to prevent people to come out and vote against them,” Ghosh said.

With anti-CPM alliances emerging in Tufanganj and Mathabhanga, 22km and 40km from here, frequent clashes between Front allies are evident, he said. “Whatever the party instruction have been from the state level, in many places the Front allies are backing us,” Ghosh claimed.

The district secretary of the CPM, Chandi Pal, said his party was going all out to preserve the unity among Front partners. “It is the Opposition which is causing the trouble,” said Pal.

Cooch Behar district magistrate Rajesh Kumar Sinha has been calling up political leaders frequently, urging them to remain calm. “More than 90 per cent of the booths are sensitive and we will keep armed forces posted in all of them on Sunday. We are urging all parties not to pay any heed to unfounded information and rumours,” Sinha said.

Jalpaiguri clash

In Jalpaiguri, three persons were injured when CPM and Congress supporters clashed at Kathambari this afternoon, report our Siliguri correspondent. The CPM claimed that a woman who was also injured in the clash died in hospital later. The police refused to confirm the death.