Eight injured in N Bengal violence

JALPAIGURI: The Kamrangaguri area in Fulbari I gram panchayat under the Rajganj Assembly area witnessed violence on Saturday when Trinamool and CPM supporters went into a skirmish in the afternoon outside a polling booth while elections were on.
The clash, outside polling booth 121, resulted in the injury of eight persons, all of whom had to be hospitalized.Of them, four were later shifted to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. The condition of two is critical.
Both Trinamool and CPM have claimed that the injured men were their supporters. But Trinamool later lodged an FIR against four CPM leaders Bimal Sarkar, Nepal Burman, Sushil Burman and Dhiraj Mondol.
Otherwise, the by-elections in the Rajganj and Kalchini Assembly constituencies were peacefully conducted and there was no untoward incident reported from anywhere else. Both the areas witnessed 75% polling on an average.
The Congress leadership has alleged that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parshad did not allow their polling agents to enter polling stations in at least five places at Kalchini. GJM and ABAVP have denied the allegation.