Zeenews Bureau
Kolkata: A Sub-Inspector of the Special Branch of the Kolkata Police was shot dead and four students were seriously injured when fierce clashes erupted between the members of the ruling Trinamool Congress and Congress during nominations for students’ union election in a local college on Tuesday.
V Solomon, DC (Port), later said that the clash occurred when nomination forms for students' union election in the Hari Mohan Ghosh College were being distributed among candidates.
Tapas Chowdhury, the SI, received bullet injury in the violence which witnessed bombs and brickbats being freely used by students and also local goons.
He was declared brought dead after he was taken to the nearby CMRI hospital.
Solomon said, "The clash took place between TMCP (Trinamool Congress student wing) and CP (Congress student wing and shots were fired in which the sub-inspector suffered injury leading to his death."
Today being the last day for filing nomination, there was a lot of rush and hectic activities inside the college. A large number of policemen were also deployed to avoid any untoward incident during nominations.
Soon after the incident, a battalion of Rapid Action Force was deployed in and around the college and the situation is being closely monitored by the Kolkata administration and the state government.
A case has also been registered in connection with the violent clashes and the police have begun investigating the matter.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is said to have directed the city police officials to bring the situation under control and brief her about the situation.
She also directed the State Urban Development Minister, Firhad Hakim, to take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, a blame game also began between the two political parties over the Hari Mohan Ghosh College clashes.
Trinamool Congress has blamed local goons for the unfortunate incident and said that it can’t hold the students responsible for the clashes.
Hakim, who visited the area soon after the violence and held talks with the police and students, alleged that criminals sheltered by the Congress and the CPI-M were involved in the incident.
The state Congress strongly reacted to Hakim's allegation, with its president Pradip Bhattacharya demanding a CBI investigation into the violence.
"The society of the entire state and Kolkata has gone for a toss under this regime. We demand a CBI investigation into the incident," Bhattacharya told reporters.
He also accused the police and the state administration of surrendering constitutional norms and rights to the goons.
With PTI inputs
First Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 14:03