Three persons, including two youths from Uttar Pradesh, were caught by residents while allegedly pasting BJP posters in Sheikhpura village of Malda's Manikchak police station on Friday night.

The incident triggered tension in Sheikhpura, a minority-dominated village.

According to local sources, late on Friday night, three individuals arrived in the village in an auto-rickshaw and began pasting BJP posters featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi at various locations. Their activities led to commotion among villagers.

Residents and public representatives rushed to the spot and questioned the men about their identities.

The men reportedly replied in Hindi that they were residents of Uttar Pradesh. This alarmed the locals, especially as no local BJP leader or worker was present.

Asked under whose instructions the posters were being pasted, the men allegedly failed to give a satisfactory answer. The villagers stopped them from continuing to paste the posters and informed the police.

“BJP posters have never been put up in the village before, and the manner in which they were pasted at night by strangers left residents perturbed,” said Md Ebadul, a villager.

Trinamool leaders in the Manikchak block alleged that the incident was a deliberate attempt to foment tension in the area ahead of the Assembly polls.

“The BJP has intentionally targeted minority areas to provoke unrest. Moreover, the BJP posters were pasted over our party’s posters. Also, as the BJP lacks local support, it is bringing people from Uttar Pradesh to carry out the activity,” said Tafazzal Hossain, the block Trinamool secretary.

As the news spread, police reached the spot and intercepted the trio. Later, based on the complaints from villagers, all three were arrested.

The trio are Vipin Kumar and Yogesh Kumar from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, and Amar Sahani, an auto-rickshaw driver from Malda.

Following the arrests, the BJP staged a protest outside Manikchak police station for nearly an hour on Saturday, accusing Trinamool workers of assaulting the trio and framing them in false cases. Later, the BJP also filed a complaint against Trinamool with the police.

“A private agency has been centrally engaged to put up the posters, and accordingly, these two persons were sent here with the posters. We are not targeting any specific area. There is no legal restriction on the BJP’s posters in minority-dominated areas,” said Abhijit Mishra, a district BJP leader.

A police officer from Manikchak police station stated that written complaints had been received from both sides. “The matter is under investigation,” he said.