'Batons For Hooligans And Bullets For Innocents': BJP Delegation Visits Violence-Hit Bhatpara In Bengal

The delegation, comprising MPs S.S. Ahluwalia, Vishnu Dayal Ram and Satyapal Singh, reached Bhatpara from Delhi on Saturday morning. In the village, it visited the houses of the two deceased in Thursday's clash.?Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh also accompanied them.

While Ahluwalia is an MP from the state, Singh and Ram are former police officers besides being MP from Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand respectively.?

"The police shot them. They had held a press conference and said that they resorted to aerial firing. But if they did that, how did it enter the bodies of people? It's unfortunate. Families of small vendors were finished," ANI quoted Singh as saying.

"A 17-year-old boy was shot when he going to purchase something. Police shot him in his head from point blank range. A vendor was shot and died on spot. A third is in the hospital. Seven people were shot. Police use batons for hooligans and bullets for innocents. It should be inquired," he added.

The delegation will submit a report to the Centre on its visit.

A joint delegation of Congress and Left Front MLAs from the state, headed by Congress leader Abdul Mannan and CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty is also visiting the area later in the day.

The BJP had organised marches and gheraoed the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate on Friday to protest the killings of two persons in Bhatpara.

The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP blamed each other for the clashes, which is seen as an attempt to establish dominance in Bhatpara, which comes under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.

A TMC citadel for long, Bhatpara has been witnessing frequent post-poll violence between the rival parties.

The fight has intensified ever since TMC MLA Arjun Singh crossed over to the BJP and was elected to Lok Sabha from Barrackpore. Bhatpara comes under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.

In the by-election to the Bhatpara Assembly seat that were held along with the Lok Sabha elections, Arjun Singh's son Pawan Singh defeated TMC candidate and former state minister Madan Mitra.

(With inputs from IANS and PTI)