The officer in charge of Birbhum’s Kankartala police station was removed within 24 hours of the clash between two groups of alleged Trinamool Congress-backed goons who hurled crude bombs at each other to gain control of extortion from a local sand mine.

Purnendu Bikash Das, the OC, was shunted to the district headquarters. Circle inspector Subhasish Halder was assigned to take over the duties of Das’s office following an order issued by the Birbhum police chief Amandeep.

A senior police officer said the OC was removed for his failure to control the ongoing conflict between two feuding ruling party factions, which resulted in Tuesday’s fierce clash that became an embarrassment for the state government.

“The local cops should have had the tip-off about the growing acrimony between the two groups. They did not have information that the two groups had stockpiled so many crude bombs to use in the clash,” said the senior police officer.

Political controversy flared again as the police arrested TMC leader Swapan Sen for his involvement in the clash, during which two local Trinamool workers suffered injuries.

Sen is a long-time member of the TMC in Kankartala, which has witnessed dozens of clashes over the years, mainly over the control of illegal sand and coal smuggling.