Trinamool Congress on Saturday claimed that three of its party workers have been killed ahead of the panchayat polls in West Bengal. "...Three of our party workers have been murdered in Rejinagar, Tufanganj and Khargram and two have been left wounded from gunshots in Domkol," the party claimed.
Reacting to the development, West Bengal minister Shashi Panja said, "Shocking and tragic incidents have unfolded the night before which has just started this morning in the Panchayat elections in West Bengal. The BJP, CPI(M) and Congress had colluded together and were clamouring for Central forces. Where is the deployment?."
"Why have the central forces failed to protect the citizens? TMC workers have been murdered, two have been shot at. Those who were asking for deployment, saying that these central forces are the guardians of peace - the guardians have failed, faltered to protect the rights of citizens," she added.
According to news agency ANI, a 52-year-old TMC worker, Sateshuddin Sheikh was killed in Khargram of Murshidabad. His body was brought to a hospital for postmortem.
The polls began at 7 am across 20 districts of West Bengal for the three-tier Panchayati Raj system amid tight security while incidents of violence were reported ahead of the polling.
A polling booth at Baravita Primary School in Sitai in West Bengal's Coochbehar was vandalised and ballot papers were set on fire soon after voting began for single-phase panchayat polls in the state.