The rifle and the bullets that were seized by Malda police from Kaliachak. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda/Cooch Behar, May 18: Two persons have been killed in post-poll violence in Malda and Cooch Behar, even as reports of clashes between supporters of the Left Front and the Trinamul Congress and the Congress trickled in from many areas in both the districts.

In Malda’s Kaliachak, Aurobindo Mondal, 38, a Forward Bloc worker, was stoned to death allegedly by Congress supporters late last night. Around the same time, Trinamul Congress supporter Hafizur Rehman, 33, was killed in a clash with CPM members in a tea stall in Cooch Behar’s Mathabhanga. While 15 people from both the parties were injured in the fight, seven persons have been arrested by Cooch Behar police.

According to Satyajit Banerjee, the Malda district police chief, Mondal used to be a Congress supporter but had joined the Bloc before last year’s panchayat polls. The police are looking for Congress supporters who were allegedly behind the murder.

The police also seized a rifle and 30 rounds of bullets from a house at Sukdebpur in Kaliachak last night. Two persons have been arrested.

This morning, CPM and Congress supporters clashed with bombs and country-made firearms in Kaliachak. A large contingent of force was sent to the spot to tackle the situation.

The CPM district secretary of Malda, Jiban Moitra, said someone from the Congress threw a cracker inside the house of panchayat member Saleha Begum when a rally was taken out. “Her daughter fell unconscious because of the loud bang. When she protested, she was attacked by the Congress supporters and our men rescued her. We have instructed our members to stay indoors when such processions are taken out. But if the Congress supporters blatantly provoke us, it is very unfortunate,” Moitra said.

He alleged that houses of CPM workers were being attacked in Ratua and Gajole. In Gajole seven persons have been beaten up and admitted to the hospital there.

Congress district secretary of Malda Hasan Ali Sheikh said it was but natural that the winners of two seats would take out victory rallies. “It is the CPM that is attacking our processions. The police should prevent these incidents from happening.”

In Cooch Behar, the Trinamul Congress set up roadblocks at seven places in Mathabhanga subdivision following yesterday’s murder. However, the police brought the situation under control and dispersed the protesters.

The superintendent of police of Cooch Behar, Devendra Prakash Singh, said the situation was under control and forces had been deployed at Ghoksadanga where the incident took place.

Ghoksadanga Trinamul Congress leader Binoy Barman alleged that Hafizur and other party supporters were discussing the election results at a tea stall near the railway station when CPM members from a nearby party office, armed with iron rods and spears, attacked the group. “Hafizur was hit on the head and chest and died on way to the district hospital, while others were severely injured,” Barman said.

Janab Ali, the CPM zonal committee member, however, blamed Trinamul for trying to create tension by making provocative remarks. The party’s district secretary, Chandi Pal, said Trinamul had been attacking Bloc and CPM party offices in and around Cooch Behar town and Tufanganj.

The police said 13 people were admitted to the Tufanganj hospital this morning following a clash between Trinamul and CPM supporters. Yesterday 15 people were injured in Tufanganj in a similar incident.