Central forces gun down four in Cooch Behar: Villagers allege unprovoked caning and firing

The dead men from Jorpatki in Sitalkuchi constituency belonged to poor families and were described as Trinamul supporters by neighbours

Security personnel at Amtali MSK in Sitalkuchi of Cooch Behar after the CISF firing on Saturday.: Main Uddin Chisti

Main Uddin Chisti   |   TT  |  Cooch Behar   | 11.04.21 :  Four young men were killed in CISF firing at a Cooch Behar booth on Saturday, bloodying the fourth phase of the Bengal polls and raising uncomfortable questions for the Election Commission that has deployed 77,000 central force personnel and 35,000 state police to ensure peaceful voting.

The four dead men from Jorpatki in Sitalkuchi constituency — Nur Alam Mian (20), Maniruzzaman Mian (28), Samiul Haque (21) and Hamidul Mian (31) — belonged to poor families and were described as Trinamul supporters by neighbours.

The administration, which is functioning under the Election Commission now, said the personnel of the CISF, a central armed police force that reports to the Union home ministry, were forced to fire after being attacked by a mob. But villagers alleged unprovoked caning and firing by the forces.

The CISF is mainly used for airport security and guarding industrial installations. Whether such an armed force, usually not familiar with crowd control and management, should be deployed for polling that draws a large number of civilians is a question that the Election Commission needs to answer.

Language is also a barrier, and often directives from the central forces on the ground come across as rude commands.

In the evening, the Election Commission prohibited political leaders from entering Cooch Behar district for the next 72 hours. The silence period for the fifth phase of polling on April 17 has been extended from 48 hours to 72 hours, which means campaigning for these seats will end on April 14.

Safiuddin Mian, a Jorpatki resident and farmer, said that polling was going on peacefully at Booth 5/126 at the Amtali Madhyamik Siksha Kendra when the central forces suddenly turned violent.

“Around 10am, a group of 20 to 25 central force personnel who had not been posted at the booth arrived and began beating up people, many of whom had gathered to vote. They did not spare even a 15-year-old boy, Mrinal Haque, who had come to watch the voting process from a distance,” Safiuddin said.

“When the boy got injured, people started protesting. The forces carried out another baton-charge and then suddenly started firing. I was waiting in the queue to vote, but I ran for my life after hearing the gunshots.”

Several Trinamul leaders corroborated Safiuddin’s account, among them Rabindranath Ghosh, north Bengal development minister and former Cooch Behar district unit president.

A villager who asked not to be identified said: “This booth had 950 voters, of whom more than 750 are Muslim. It’s clear that the central forces targeted this booth to prevent us voting for Trinamul.”

The authorities claimed the incident was a fallout of rumour mongering that had prompted a mob attack on the central forces, who had to fire to save themselves and government property such as the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

This was stated in a note prepared by the poll panel-appointed special police observer, Vivek Dube, which was sent to Nirvachan Sadan and released to the media in the evening.

Annappa E, deputy inspector-general of police, Jalpaiguri range, had provided a similar account earlier in the day.

“A local boy, Mrinal Haque, fell sick in the morning. Sector officers attended to the boy and even offered to take him to hospital. But soon a rumour spread that the forces had beaten the boy up,” he said.

“Villagers then arrived with sticks and cooking utensils and attacked the booth, the presiding officer and a woman polling official. The EVM was damaged too.”

Dube’s note said a few personnel were injured after the mob attacked the forces.

“They (the forces) immediately sought for reinforcement and the QRT (Quick Reaction Team of the central forces) standing near the booth rushed to the spot for their help. The QRT vehicle was also attacked by the unruly mob and it was damaged,” Dube wrote.

“On being attacked, CISF personnel fired in open air to disperse the crowd. However, it did not deter the mob. Faced with no other alternative, to save their lives and government property like EVM and other polling materials, the CISF personnel opened fire.”

It wasn’t clear whether those who fired were posted at the booth or were from the QRT.

District police chief Debasish Dhar told The Telegraph that “300 to 350 villagers including women” had gathered around the booth.

District police sources said the villagers had tried to snatch away rifles from Shyamal Pal, a home guard, and constable Babulal Roy of the state police. Efforts to obtain the phone numbers of Pal and Roy and seek their version of events bore no results.

Officials evaded the question whether the forces could have used batons and tear gas instead of bullets. “We are investigating how the events unfolded,” Annappa said.

The villagers dismissed the police version. “Some of us filmed the events on our cellphones, but the forces snatched the phones and deleted what we had recorded,” a villager said, asking not to be named.

The pall of grief that had descended on Jorpatki in the morning was replaced by a sense of fear in the evening as more security forces were sent to the Muslim-majority village.

A villager said the residents were afraid that they might be arrested for attacking the forces. He said many youths had already fled the village.

Most of the dead were their families’ main breadwinners. Nur and Maniruzzaman were migrant workers who had come home to vote, and Samiul was a first-time voter.

Maniruzzaman leaves behind a month-and-a-half-old daughter and Hamidul a three-year-old daughter.

“It’s sad that four young men from our village lost their lives like this. And now there is fear,” a villager said.

The poll panel has announced re-polling at the booth but not set a date yet.