Panchayat poll violence: Trinamool leader gunned down in Purulia

Kolkata, June 22 (IANS) Just hours after West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose held the State Election Commission (SEC) responsible for the bloodshed in the run-up to the July 8 panchayat elections in the state, one Trinamool Congress leader was shot dead inside the patty office at Adra in Purulia district on Thursday evening.

At around 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, when Trinamool's Adra town president Dhananjay Choubey was sitting at the party office along with his associates, three unknown persons arrived at the spot on a motorcycle and shot at Choubey from a close range. Choubey's bodyguard Sekhar Das was also injured in the firing.

A profusely-bleeding Choubey was admitted to a local hospital where he died during treatment. His bodyguard is being treated in the same hospital.

Condemning the incident, Trinamool's Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen claimed that the murder of Choubey proves that it is not the ruling party, but the opposition forces, especially the BJP, which are trying to create tension over the panchayat polls.

"I hope the police will hunt down the killers at the earliest and take necessary action," he said.

On the other hand, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh claimed that it is the failure of the police that they are unable to curb the increasing violence over the panchayat polls.

"The state administration is actually reluctant to control the criminal elements since it's the Trinamool cadres who are creating tension and indulging in violence," Ghosh said.