Tension gripped the Sutkabari area of Cooch Behar-I block in Cooch Behar district following clashes between two rival factions of the Trinamool since Sunday in which two persons were injured.
The factions led by Majibur Haque, the panchayat-level president of the party, and Sirajul Haque, the former panchayat-level president, clashed to retain their control over the area.
Local sources said that the Trinamool groups started clashing on Sunday night during which crude bombs were allegedly hurled.
Nurjahan Begum, a local woman, suffered injuries in one of the bomb blasts and was hospitalised at the MJN Medical College & Hospital in Cooch Behar town.
Violence flared up again on Monday morning when Entaj Haque, one of
Sirajul’s associates, was allegedly attacked with a sharp weapon while he was at the local market in Sutkabari. He suffered multiple injuries to his head and body.
Haque was also admitted to the MJN Medical College & Hospital.
Supporters of Sirajul have alleged that the attacks were carried out by followers of Majibur, who is known to be close to Abhijit De Bhowmik, the district Trinamool president. The latter denied the charges.
The clashes, which have again brought to the surface the acute infighting within the party in Coch Behar, have led to a loss of face for district Trinamool leaders.
“Such clashes within our party are undesirable as the Assembly elections would
be held in a few months. In earlier elections, one of the reasons for the party’s miserable performance in Cooch Behar district was this infighting. Hope district leaders take steps to nip infighting in the bud,” said a senior district Trinamool
functionary.
The Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat has seven Assembly seats — Mathabhanga, Cooch Behar Uttar, Cooch Behar Dakshin, Dinhata, Sitai, Sitalkuchi and Natabari.
Currently, five are held by BJP MLAs — Sushil Barman (Mathabhanga), Sukumar Roy (Cooch Behar Uttar), Nikhil Ranjan Dey (Cooch Behar Dakshin), Mihir Goswami (Natabari) and Baren Chandra Barman (Sitalkuchi).
Only Dinhata and Sitai are held by Trinamool MLAs, Udayan Guha and Sangita Roy. Guha is also the north Bengal development minister.