The chief of a Trinamul-run panchayat samiti and an alleged party worker died in South Dinajpur district on Tuesday after two rival groups of Trinamul supporters clashed over a piece of land at Uttar Narayanpur village under Gangarampur police station area.

The deceased were identified as Kalipada Sarkar, 54, the sabhapati of Gangarampur panchayat samiti, who had been injured in the clash but died of cardiac arrest, and Sanjit Sarkar, 27, who died of bullet wounds.

The incident has led to loss of face for district Trinamul leaders who have been of late trying to present a unified image of the party in South Dinajpur, a district where the BJP has been gaining in strength these past couple of years.

A large police contingent, along with RAF, reached the village, and arrested four persons for their alleged involvement in the violence. “We have arrested four persons and have seized crude bombs and a firearm. Search is on to nab more people,” said Debarshi Dutta, the South Dinajpur district police chief.

Sources said on Tuesday, an altercation among the groups over the ownership of a plot sparked violence. Soon, both sides attacked each other with firearms and crude bombs.

Sanjit, who was hit by a bullet on his head, collapsed on the spot. His aides rushed him to the local hospital in Gangarampur from where he was referred to Malda Medical College and Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to Malda.

Sanjit, sources said, was a supporter of Gautam Das, the district Trinamul president.

Seeing Sanjit’s collapse, his co-workers got agitated and gathered around the house of Suman Das, a party worker from a rival group. Alleging that Das has fired at Sanjit, they ransacked and torched his house.

Seeing Kalipada on the spot, the agitated workers attacked him too. An injured Kalipada was taken to the hospital in Gangarampur, where the doctors pronounced him dead. It was later learnt that the cause of his death was cardiac arrest.

Kalipada, party insiders said, was an associate of veteran party leader Biplab Mitra, a former MLA and former district chief of the party who defected to the BJP earlier, but returned to Trinamul last year and it was only a couple of days back that he was made the chairman of the district committee.

Gautam Das, the district Trinamul chief, confirmed that Sanjit had been an active party worker. Mitra, on the other hand, claimed that Sanjit was a BJP worker.

“He was an active party worker,” the Trinamul district chief said. “During the past few days, we have received information that some people are trying to foment tension in the district. We want the police to take stern steps against all those who perpetrated the violence, irrespective of their political affiliation. The other person is suspected to have died of a heart attack,” Gautam Das said.

Mitra however called it a “local issue”. “The person who died of bullet injury is a BJP worker. He has no connection with Trinamul,” Mitra said.