A Samserganj TMC leader, who organised a peace rally in his village with people from both Hindu and Muslim communities, had to flee his home with his family on Tuesday, after a group of residents, allegedly led by BJP leaders, ransacked his house and threatened him with dire consequences.
Sanjay Kumar Das, a farmer in Alinaskarpur village under the Nimtita gram panchayat of Samserganj and a TMC leader, had not returned home till late Tuesday evening when the report was filed. He claimed that those who attacked his house threatened him for organising the peace rally and trying to promote harmony in the area.
Nimtita is some 5km from strife-torn pockets of Samserganj but has not seen any communal clashes yet.
“As tensions prevailed in adjoining areas following the riot, I organised a peace rally urging people to maintain communal harmony. When I returned home, at least seven BJP leaders and hundreds of their supporters attacked my home,” Sanjay told this correspondent from a lodge in Basudebpur, where he had to take refuge with his wife Juthika.
Local school teachers from both communities participated in the peace rally organised on Saturday evening.
“My father became senseless during the attack, and I had to take him out of the area. He is currently staying at a relative’s house in a village 5km away. I also moved my 13-year-old son to a different village,” said the leader, who later lodged a police complaint against at least five local BJP leaders.
The BJP leaders, however, claimed that the TMC was falsely accusing them, stating that they were organisationally weak in the area. The TMC-run Nimtita gram panchayat has six BJP members out of a total of 30.
“There is tension in the area, and Alinaskarpur is a Hindu-dominated village. It was not the BJP, but the local people who ransacked his house. They believed there was no need for such an exercise since the area was peaceful. Now, the TMC is lodging complaints to falsely implicate us,” said Prabir Saha, a secretary of BJP’s local district unit.
The police arrested two suspects involved in the murders of a father and son during the communal clash on April 12. CPM state secretary Md Salim has claimed that the murdered Haragovinda Das, 72, and his son Chandan Das, 40, were party supporters and were killed for resisting the rioters.
“We had formed a special investigation team to probe the murders. After reviewing CCTV footage and speaking with local people, we arrested two prime accused directly involved in the crime, and they are brothers by relation,” said ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar.
Sarkar said the two arrested — Kalu Nadab and Dildar Nadab — are residents of Jafrabad in Samserganj. Kalu was arrested from Murarai in Birbhum and Dildar from a Bangladesh-bordering area under Suti police station.
“The police are conducting raids to arrest the remaining accused in the brutal killings. No one involved, directly or indirectly, will be spared,” Sarkar added.
So far, police have arrested 221 people in connection with multiple incidents of violence in Samserganj.
The ADG informed reporters that the police had also blocked 193 social media handles sharing fake and provocative content.
Local TMC leaders attempting to reach out to violence-hit residents have faced resistance.
Jangipur MP Khalilur Rahaman visited Betbona in Samserganj — one of the worst-hit areas — on Tuesday. Residents protested before him, saying they didn’t want politicians but a permanent deployment of central forces. A youth claimed that many involved in looting and arson were roaming freely.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also visited the troubled areas on Tuesday. “The state government must take steps to restore confidence between both communities. At the end of the day, the victims are human beings,” he said.