A man with a gun at Santra village in Nanoor on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

Nanoor, Nov. 3: Alleged CPM cadres descended on a Nanoor village that had slipped out of the party’s grip to terrorise residents this morning but met a bomb-for-bomb resistance.

Santra village in Birbhum’s Nanoor block repulsed the armed assault a day after alleged CPM supporters ran riot in Hooghly’s Khanakul, shooting even at police.

The Trinamul Congress rivals today were equally well armed. Ten villagers belonging to both parties suffered splinter and pellet injuries. None of them was said to be serious.

The CPM had won the local Thupsara gram panchayat in last year’s rural polls, but lost it to Trinamul this September after seven of its members defected. The Muslim-dominated Santra and Basapara villages had started shifting loyalties after the Lok Sabha polls this May, where Mamata Banerjee gave the Left its worst defeat ever.

Sheikh Karim had stepped out his home to relieve himself around 6am when a string of explosions not far away rattled him. “They were on the other side of a paddy field. The place had become foggy with smoke because of the hail of bombs,” said Karim, 35.

Nearly 200 masked men had raided Santra with improvised single-barrel guns and muskets. Karim turned around and ran into his house, deeper inside the village. Many others had rushed out of their homes to see what was happening when shots rang out.

Once it became apparent that they were under attack, around 100 people gathered at the other end of the village and bombed the marauders.

Some of the attackers retreated behind trees and others lay on their bellies behind the raised earthen paths along paddy fields. The battle was hour old when the police came.

Reining in the warring sides was beyond the small force that arrived from Nanoor town, 15km away. Reinforcements came from three nearby police stations around 7.45.

An officer said the two sides were 300-400 metres away from each other. “Both groups were behind cover and we burst two tear-gas shells. Then we fired in the air.”

The police split themselves into two group and advanced firing shots in the air. The villagers’ exchange stopped. Mahima Bibi, 16, said they had shut their doors and windows in fear after hearing the first shots in the morning. “The sound of gunfire gradually died down after 10am.”

Additional superintendent of police Farhad Abbas said the situation was under control. “Police pickets have been posted in the area.” Birbhum district Trinamul president Anubrata Mondal said: “CPM cadres fired at villagers and hurled bombs. Five of our supporters were injured.”

The CPM denied having played any role in the attack. “Daily labourers who support the CPM were unloading goods at the Basapara bazaar, about 500 metres from Santra, this morning when they were attacked by Trinamul goons with guns and bombs. Five of our supporters were injured,” said Ananda Bhattacharya, the secretary of the party’s Nanoor zonal committee.