West Bengal: 3-year-old shot at amid Panchayat politics

Kolkata, Aug 31: In a shocking incident, the clashes between the BJP and the TMC workers over the formation of panchayat boards in Malda, West Bengal, left a three-year-old grievously injured with bullet injuries.

The child is the son of Putul Mondal who won the rural body election in Manikchak village on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket.

The clashes between the workers of two parties broke out after the Manikchak gram panchayat elections on August 28 and 29.

The 18 member Manikchak gram panchayat has total 18 seats. Of those, the BJP won 10, TMC 6, CPI(M) 1 and Congress 1. Putul Mondal was one of the 10 BJP candidates who won.

According to reports, Putul then decided to join the TMC after allegedly being lured with money. When the members went to elect the pradhan, the BJP and Trinamool were tied at nine votes. A toss followed and the BJP's candidate won.

After this, violent clashes broke out between the workers of the two parties. Some unidentified miscreants attacked the house of Putul Mondal at Manikchak in which the child was injured.

The child, Mrinal Mondal, is said to be critical.