Tufanganj, about 25km from Cooch Behar town, turned into a battlefield on Monday after a clash broke out between BJP and Trinamool Congress workers during a BJP protest of the gang rape of the Durgapur medical student.

The clash erupted around 11am when BJP workers gathered at their party office and began marching toward the Tufanganj police station to submit a memorandum.

Trinamool supporters allegedly came out of their nearby party office and attacked the BJP workers. The scuffle soon escalated into brick-and-stone-pelting in the presence of police.

According to BJP leaders, two of their workers, Bishwajit Barman and Nikhil Gabua, were seriously injured and admitted to the Tufanganj Subdivisional Hospital. Later in the afternoon, when local BJP MLA Malti Rava Roy reached the spot, Trinamool supporters reportedly surrounded her and raised “go back” slogans, reigniting tension.

“There is murder, rape and anarchy across the state. When we tried to protest democratically, Trinamool workers attacked us. They will be wiped out in the 2026 Assembly polls,” the BJP MLA said.

BJP’s Natabari constituency convener Subhasish Chowdhury said: “Two of our workers were seriously injured in the attack by Trinamool goons. When our mandal president Chiranjit Das went to visit them at the hospital, he too was beaten up.”

Trinamool leaders, however, denied the allegations and accused the BJP of instigating the violence.

“They (BJP) created chaos and pelted stones at our workers. Two of our supporters, Farooq Mondal and Basudeb Das, were injured,” said Girindranath Barman, chairman of the party’s Cooch Behar district committee.

Leaders of both parties stated that they would lodge formal police complaints regarding the incident.