TMC rebels attack Bengal tourism minister\'s car

HARIPAL (HOOGHLY): State tourism minister Rachpal Singh\'s car was attacked and damaged at Kinkarbati Krishi Vidyalaya ground, allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters.



Singh had a narrow escape after police intervened and escorted the minister to safety. The incident left 12 Trinamool Congress supporters injured. Eight of them had to be hospitalized later.



The incident took place at a Trinamool Panchayati Raj Sammelan. Becharam Manna, Haripal MLA and Tapan Dasgupta, Trinamool\'s Hooghly president and MLA, were on the dais when a group of over 1000 party workers with Trinamool badges and flags forced their way in to the meeting with slogans that genuine delegates were left out of the meet. The protesters were reportedly led by a local Trinamool leader Muzaffar Ali and their target was the meeting\'s convener Safiul Islam. This led to sporadic clashes.



Rachpal\'s convoy arrived there around the same time and got stuck in the melee. The protesters also trained guns at him and alleged that people like him and others have been made ministers and true Trinamool workers were left out. The mob attacked the car with stones and lathis and smashed its rear windshield. Later police reached the spot and escorted the minister to safety. Infighting ripples were also felt later in the evening, when some Trinamool activists reportedly damaged their own party offices.



\"It is difficult to find the culprits since there were many people. Timely intervention from the police averted major consequences. Many people have joined Trinamool these days and the clashes are fallout of this. The party will deal with it,\" Singh said. According to Dasgupta, some CPM men in touch with TMC people are behind this. \"Indiscipline in the ranks will not be tolerated and action will be taken,\" he said.



Meanwhile, minister Partha Chatterjee said his party has no links to Muzaffar and his men.



Among 12 injured, eight were admitted to the Haripal Rural Health Centre. Hooghly SP Tanmoy Roychowdhury said, \"Due to the presence of a large number of people there were reports of clashes which, though, didn\'t last long.\" Locals refused to speak on the matter.



Most of the Kinkarbati locals claimed that they had rushed to their homes when the trouble broke out.



Only a day before, another clash - due to reported internal feud - in Bhadreswar left four Trinamool workers injured. The incident took place after a Trinamool councillor at Bhadreswar Municipality M P Singh moved a no-confidence motion against municipality chairman and a member of his own party Deepak Chakraborty. Chakraborty\'s supporters attacked Singh\'s men after the latter claimed that they had won the no-confidence vote. Later, Hooghly district magistrate Sripriya Rangarajan ordered that Chakraborty would continue as the municipality chairman.


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