Gautam Das, a former MLA and a state secretary of the Trinamool Congress from South Dinajpur, has narrowly escaped when his car was attacked by unidentified people.

Sources said the incident occurred around 9.45pm on Monday at Jalilpur under the jurisdiction of Tapan police station. The locality is around 2.5km from Das's home at Rampara-Chenchra village.

After attending a political event, Das was returning from Buniadpur in his car. As his driver was ill, a close aide to Das was driving while a bodyguard accompanied them.

When the vehicle crossed the Gangarampur police station limits and entered the jurisdiction of the Tapan police station, a four-wheeler approaching from the opposite direction slowed down near Das's car.

“A few moments later, people in the vehicle targeted the moving car and pelted it with stones, which shattered a portion of the window near the driver’s seat. Das, who was seated in the rear, managed to escape unhurt,” said a source.

Das, the former MLA of Gangarampur, filed a complaint at the Tapan police station. “The attack was an attempt on my life. I have been receiving threatening calls,” he said.

“I am not sure whether the attackers fired gunshots, but I heard a loud noise during the attack,” he added.

Sources said Das had been involved in prolonged factional disputes within the TMC and hinted that internal rivalry was behind the assault.

“In closed quarters, he has ruled out the involvement of any other political party,” said a source.

Subhash Bhowal, the district president of the TMC, expressed concern over the incident.

“I have asked police officers to treat the matter seriously and investigate thoroughly. There is, however, no intra-party rivalry in the TMC here,” he said.

Chinmoy Mittal, the district police chief, confirmed that Das had lodged the complaint. “We have initiated a probe. Our officers are gathering information and also checking CCTV footage of the surrounding area to identify the attackers,” he said.

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