Bombs explode at club in Birbhum

Birbhum/Jhargram: A bomb explosion in a club, and attacks on local BJP leaders and a Trinamool MLA marked continuing political violence in Bengal on Sunday.
In Birbhum, bombs exploded inside three-storeyed Meghdoot Club near Mallarpur railway station, blowing off its roof and iron gate shutters and blasting a portion of the ground-floor wall. The bombs were reportedly stacked inside the building.Residents claimed that buildings nearby too were damaged as glass windowpanes shattered in the impact.
Trinamool blamed BJP for storing bombs and arms in the club; BJP denied the charge. The state late on Sunday directed CID to investigate the incident. “BJP was controlling the club and had stored bombs inside. It is a fallout of their efforts to fan violence across the state,” Trinamool’s district president Anubrata Mandal said.
Local BJP leader Subhashsis Chowdhury said: “There are BJP supporters in the district. But our members are not connected with the incident at the Mallarpur club.”
In Jhargram, 20-year-old BJP booth president Khagapati Mahato was shot at Saturday midnight while attending a ‘kirtan’. Mahato was rushed to a local hospital and then to Kolkata. His condition remained critical on Sunday. Mahato, who switched to BJP from Trinamool a few months back, was attacked when he stepped out of the ‘kirtan’ in Jamboni’s Baghua. Three bikers accosted him. “He was shot in the chest,” father Rajani Mahato said.
Residents alleged Trinamool workers were present during the shooting. On Sunday, Bhanu Mahato, reportedly a Trinamool supporter, was arrested in this connection. Trinamool’s Jhargram president Birbaha Soren denied any party worker was involved in the attack.
In Cooch Behar, Trinamool’s Dinhata MLA Udayan Guha came under attack when miscreants stopped his car near Gobrachhara while he was on his way to Nayarhat on Sunday. He was forced to step out and the front windshield was smashed. “We are trying to prevent communal hatred that BJP is spreading in the area,” Guha said.
In Purulia, the house of a BJP panchayat samiti member was set ablaze on Sunday. A group of miscreants set fire to BJP leader Malati Rajwad’s house, residents said.
(With inputs from Someswar Boral, Sujay Khanra, Falguni Banerjee and Amit Singh Deo)