A paramilitary patrol in Mangalkot earlier this month. Picture by Gour Sharma

Burdwan, May 16: Residents of Burdwan’s Mangalkot fear that violence might erupt in the area after the departure of the central forces, which had been deployed on poll duty.

Villagers owing allegiance to both the CPM and the Trinamul Congress are apprehending attacks from each other.

A senior police officer said one company of central forces was still stationed in Mangalkot. “They are regularly patrolling the area along with state police personnel. The central forces will stay in Mangalkot at least till May 25. If required, they may have to stay longer,” said Joytirmoy Roy, the sub-divisional police officer of Katwa.

The CPM won the Mangalkot seat by only 126 votes, the lowest victory margin in this year’s elections. Mangalkot had been a CPM bastion but the results show that Trinamul has emerged as a force to reckon with in the area.

Mangalkot has witnessed frequent clashes between Trinamul and the Left since the murder of CPM district committee member Falguni Mukherjee by alleged Trinamul activists in July 2009. However, the Burdwan pocket shot to the limelight after alleged CPM activists chased a delegation of Congress MLAs led by Manas Bhuniya across paddy fields a few months later.

Since the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, seven persons have been killed in Mangalkot in political clashes.

Trinamul supporters in several Mangalkot villages alleged that CPM cadres had been threatening them after the poll results were declared.

“We fear that the moment the central forces are withdrawn, we will be attacked by the CPM. Many of us did not vote for the CPM. Cadres have threatened to teach us a lesson because of this,” said Brajagopal Ghosh, 51, who owns a sweet shop in Mangalkot’s Kherua village.

Makhan Maji, 23, a Trinamul supporter in Natun Kherua whose mother was killed by alleged CPM goons in November last year, said he planned to leave the village as soon as the central forces were withdrawn. “CPM activists killed my mother. I don’t want to lose any other family member. The CPM will not spare us if we live here,” the labourer said. Makhan has a wife and three children.

Biswarup Ghosh, 21, of Brahmmapur said: “CPM-backed anti-socials killed my father in January. My mother and I voted for the Trinamul candidate but he lost. Now the CPM is threatening to kill us. I want to escape from here as soon as possible.”

CPM supporters, on the other hand, fear attacks from Trinamul activists. Basanti Karak, 32, a resident of Dhanyarukhi village, said she had fled her home with her husband and two daughters in end-2009 because of “Trinamul threats”.

“We had put up at the house of a relative in Katwa. We returned to our village in March this year after the arrival of the central forces. Now, it appears that we may have to escape again. Trinamul activists have already started terrorising us,” Basanti said.

Another CPM supporter, Hemat Kazi, 45, said Trinamul activists had “forced” him to join their processions before the elections.