Malda, June 2: Two RSP workers were killed and three injured in separate incidents in Manikchak and Kaliachak of Malda in the last 24 hours, police and party officials said.

The RSP blamed the deaths on the CPM, which denied the allegations. “It was a planned attack on our workers by the CPM,” RSP district secretary Gautam Gupta said.

The RSP took out a rally today with the body of Sirajul Haque, the 32-year-old slain party activist, at Manikchak, demanding the arrest of the CPM supporters it blamed for the killing.

In another incident, Ramul Sheikh, 27, was hacked to death allegedly by CPM supporters at Mianpara village under the Kaliachak police station today. The RSP said Sheikh was a party worker and accused the CPM of killing him.

Gupta said Haque and three other RSP activists were returning from a party meeting at Balutola village under the Manikchak police station last night when CPM supporters attacked them. “Before our men could do anything, the CPM goons, carrying guns and bombs, shot and killed Sirajul. Some of our men were injured by the bombs hurled at them.”

District superintendent of police Pankaj Dutta, however, said Haque was killed in a clash between two groups at Balutola over the plucking of corns. He said five people were arrested in this connection.

Dutta said tension broke out following the killing and a police picket was posted in the village. “The situation is under control.”

Police blamed the killing of Sheikh, another RSP supporter, on a land dispute at Mianpara village. “It has nothing to do with politics,” a senior officer said.

Gupta said the police arrived at the scene around three hours after they were informed.

“What is most shocking is that the police arrested five of our supporters though our man got killed in the attack.”

The RSP leader said the party would call a general strike in the district if the culprits were not arrested within a day.

Sushil Sinha, the CPM’s Manikchak zonal committee leader, accused the RSP of stirring up trouble in the area. “They have been creating trouble in the area since the panchayat election and then shifting the blame onto us. It’s a shrewd political strategy on the part of the RSP.”

The CPM and RSP have been at each other’s throats since the allies fought each other in the three-tier elections to the rural bodies on May 25.

The CPM lost the Malda zilla parishad to the Congress largely because of its wrangle with the RSP.

Sinha accused the RSP of joining hands with the Congress in Manikchak to torpedo the CPM in the panchayat poll.

“There was a secret understanding between them, but the plan fell through as we won almost all the panchayats in that area,” he said.

Balutola wore a deserted look, with most men fleeing the village in the face of continuing police raids.

Villagers feared more trouble as they felt the RSP workers would try to avenge the killing. “We are keeping our fingers crossed,” Moulana Saifuddin, a local resident, said.