Stray bullet hits boy - 13-year-old watching TMC march shot in chest

Garh Alam at Islampur hospital on Sunday. (Nantu Dey)

TT, Raiganj, June 5: A schoolboy today took a bullet in the chest while watching a Trinamul victory procession crossing his house in North Dinajpur's Chopra.

It is not clear if Garh Alam, who studies in Class VII, was shot at by someone in the procession that was taken out to celebrate the victory of Trinamul's Hamidul Rehman. No one saw a bullet being fired by anyone, nor was any crack of firing heard because a band was playing during the march.

Alam's elder brother Ramzan Ali, who was also watching the procession standing a few feet away, saw the boy slump to the ground.

Ali, however, said he suspected someone in the procession had fired and the misdirected bullet hit his brother.

The boy was taken to Islampur subdivisional hospital, 12km from his home in Radhagachh village. Doctors at the hospital told the family to take Alam to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital as his condition was critical.

Trinamul MLA Rehman said the firing was an attempt by the Congress-Left Opposition to "terrorise" people and "disrupt Trinamul's celebrations".

The Congress and the CPM blamed Trinamul.

According to local sources, Trinamul leaders of the area took out the march around 1pm. "There were about 1,000 party supporters and local leaders in the procession. Hamidul Rehman, who was supposed to attend the rally, did not turn up and the march started without him," a villager said.

"When the procession was passing through Radhagachh, villagers came out of their homes to watch it. The boy, who was standing in front of his house, collapsed and people rushed to him. They found him bleeding from the chest," the villager said.

Ramzan said: "When we heard the approaching procession, we both came out of the house to take a look. I was a few feet away from him (Alam).... When half of the procession had crossed us, I saw my brother fall to the ground, clutching his chest."

At the subdivisional hospital, "doctors said he had suffered a bullet injury on the left side of the chest," Ramzan said.

He said: "A band was playing brass instruments and drums in the march. I did not hear any gunshot. But I strongly suspect that the shot was fired from the procession. I have told this to the police."

Sources in Islampur hospital said as the boy's condition deteriorated, he was sent to North Bengal Medical College. "It seems that the bullet hit him straight on the chest," said a hospital source.

MLA Rehman, however, said Left-Congress supporters fired at the marchers but "the shot missed our supporters and hit a boy".

Party supporters had nothing to do with the incident, said Mohammad Kamaluddin, the Trinamul Youth president of Islampur block, who was one of the organisers. "We do not harbour criminals and we hope the police will arrest the culprits," he said.

Islampur Congress MLA Kanhaialal Agarwal said the Congress-Left alliance said Trinamul enjoyed complete sway in Chopra. "Our former alliance candidate Akramul Haque and his followers have joined Trinamul after his defeat.... I have information that the boy was shot from the front. When the shooting took place, there was the Trinamul procession in front of the victim. It is clear who fired the shot," he said.

North Dinajpur police chief Amit Kumar Bharat Rathod said senior officers had been sent to the spot. "We have not made any arrests yet," he said.

Pasarul Alam, the spokesperson for Transferred Area Surjyapur Organisation, a social organisation, said: "Sujali, Matikunda and Ramganj are places where the ruling party and Opposition workers have illegal firearms. They use those during celebrations. We have met the SDPO regarding this. But no action has been taken."