Howrah News Service - Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Police kills 4 at Dinhata, FB calls WB bandh tomorrow Police kills 4 at Dinhata, FB calls WB bandh tomorrow ================================================================================ editor on 06 February, 2008 02:59:00 The CPI (M) found itself politically cornered on Tuesday in the wake of some virulent castigation from all political parties in West Bengal, including its Left Front allies following police firising at Dinhata in Coochbehar district of North Bengal that left four Forward Bloc workers dead and almost a dozen injured. The Forward Bloc, in protest against the police firing on its unarmed workers, called for a 24-hour Bengal bandh (general strike) on Wednesday. In an unprecedented show of solidarity towards Forward Bloc, all major and minor parties in the state expressed their unconditional support for the bandh. In a tone that was never heard before, even the Left Front allies voiced loathe against the police firing on unarmed people. At least four Forward Bloc workers were killed and nearly a dozen more were injured when police fired several round on a Forward Bloc demonstration outside the office of Dinhata Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) on Tuesday afternoon. District Bloc leaders claimed police fired at least 30 rounds on the demonstrators to disperse the gathering. No statement from the police was offered on how many rounds they actually fired. The Bloc workers were demonstrating in protest against irregularities in the BPL list in the district and were demanding employment for the poor of the poverty stricken district. Police said the rally turned violent when demonstrators threw stones, and police first responded with a baton charge but then opened fire to control the crowd. "Police fired to quell the violent mob," West Bengal state police official Raj Kanojia said by telephone from northern Cooch Behar district, 600 km from the state capital Kolkata. Angry Bloc workers ransacked the SDO office, tore files and torched police vehicles. District Police Superintendent Anil Kumar told media that 12 policemen were injured in stone throwing by the mob which also set on fire a police vehicle and vandalised government property, the police said. The situation was tense but under control with a large police force deployed in the area. At one point during the clash with police, FB MLA Dipak Sarkar fell ill, party sources claimed. Pools of blood lay scattered all over the place where the firing took place. Video footages shown on various television channels literally depicted a horrific scene after the firing. Policemen were seen washing out blood pools. Tension gripped Dinhata town following the firing. Strong contingent of police were posted at all sensitive areas in apprehension of violence escalating. The trouble began when a large number of Forward Bloc workers assembled outside the office of the sub divisional officer at Dinhata in the morning as a part of their announced demonstration. The party workers virtually surrounded the office of the SDO. A scuffle with the party workers broke out when the police tried to push back the demonstrators charging them with batons. Police action soon threw the situation completely out of orbit and as it began to spin out of control police first fired tear-gas shells and then fired. All-India Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas described the police firing as 'barbaric and unprovoked' and claimed the incident would have 'definite impact' on LF unity. "I would expect Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee to take appropriate action against erring police officials and Left Front Chairman Biman Bose to condemn the trigger happy policemen who sought to suppress a democratic movement," Biswas said. The incident would not only have its impact on Left unity in West Bengal but all over the country, he said. He said he had not yet contacted the Left Front chairman on the issue. Main opposition Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee extended her party's support to the bandh and expressed her party's sympathy for the killed "who fell victims to the bullets of the barbaric police of CPI(M)-led Left Front." "There is no rule of law in West Bengal where the ruling party has been consistently committing atrocities not only on the opposition parties but on the Left allies too," she alleged. Banerjee alleged the CPI (M)-led LF government was now leaving none out of the 'Marxists wrath'. "We are not against Leftists but against CPI (M)," she said. Mamata said the bandh call has been supported by TC and the party-led Progressive Democratic Secular Front "in order to save democracy." "If necessary, TC workers would be on the streets tomorrow to foil any attempt by CPI (M) to break the bandh," she said. The TC chief said the bandh call by a Front partner was "unprecedented" in the history of the Left Front. She said the state government was not prepared to allow any democratic movement against its "failures" but "peoples movement cannot be suppressed by the CPI(M)-led government through brutal use of police force". Police has become trigger-happy in LF rule and resort to firing instead of trying to use other means to contain violence, she charged. Asked whether TC's showing solidarity to Forward Bloc-sponsored bandh would lead to realignment of political forces against CPI (M) and bring FB and her party closer, Mamata said it was not the appropriate time to reply to such a question. Condemning the police firing, West Bengal PCC said it was extending moral support to the bandh being organised by the FB. Demanding a CBI probe into the incident, WBPCC working president Pradip Bhattacharya said "police under the CPI(M)-led Left Front government has become trigger happy." "I demand that the government take action against the erring police officials who issued the order to fire", he said. BJP state general secretary Rahul Sinha in a statement demanded a judicial inquiry into the police firing and said his party had decided to lend 'moral support' to the bandh call. Sinha asked Forward Bloc to come out of Left Front 'as a mark of protest'. Samajwadi Party too condemned the police firing and supported the bandh call. Ultra left CPI(ML) state committee said it would 'fully' support the bandh on Wednesday.