A teacher’s hand was severed from the wrist in a sudden attack when he was on the way to school on Monday morning.
Primary schoolteacher, Gokul Chandra Mura, 47, was admitted in a critical condition to the Bhagabanpur Block Hospital and later to the Tamralipta Medical College
and Hospital.
Accused youth Nanda Barman is absconding.
The grisly incident took place at Fulberia village under the Bhagabanpur police station limits in East Midnapore.
According to police sources, about four years ago, Barman had a conflict with primary schoolteacher Mura, a resident of Fulberia, regarding the latter’s daughter.
At that time, the teacher had filed a complaint with the police against Barman — a case the accused had been pressurising him
to withdraw.
A Bhagabanpur police officer said: “The teacher was cycling to school around 11am when Nanda attacked him with a knife.”
“The accused tried to hack the teacher’s neck. The teacher tried to block the blow using his hand. At that moment, the teacher’s right hand was cut off from near the wrist by the knife,” he added.
The teacher slumped and fell on the road, the severed part of his hand lying
beside him.
Residents took him to the hospital. The police recovered the severed part of the hand.
“It was a horrific incident, a sickening sight. Such a sudden, unexpected act of violence, that too against a respected member of the community, has left people in the area shaken,” said one of the teacher’s neighbours.
Egra sub-divisional police officer Debi Dayal Kundu confirmed that Barman, the accused, was absconding.
He also said that attack seems to stem from the old
conflict regarding the teacher’s daughter.
Opposition parties in Bengal reacted sharply to the attack on the teacher.
Condemning the law and order in the state in the wake of this attack, CPM East Midnapore district secretary Niranjan Sihi said: “Ever since Trinamool has come into power in Bengal, goons feel empowered. The attack on the teacher reflects the poor state of law and order in
the state.”
Echoing Sihi, local BJP leader Sudam Pandit said: “Every criminal act nowadays is considered a minor incident (in Bengal). As there is no fear of the police, people can dare to attack like this.”