Violence erupted again at Rejinagar in Murshidabad district on Wednesday evening, injuring around 20 people.
It was a ‘pre-planned’ move of the BJP to foment unrest, said chief minister Mamara Banerjee at a rally in Islampur of North Dinajpur district on Thursday.
At least 20 people were injured and one woman sustained serious injuries allegedly from stone-pelting during the Ram Navami procession at Shaktipur in the Rejinagar area on Wednesday evening.
There were reports of a crude bomb going off as the procession was about to conclude.
“At least 20 people have been injured in the incident. A woman, who received serious injuries, was admitted to Murshidabad Medical College & Hospital,” according to police sources.
Sources said miscreants threw stones at the procession from the roof of a house, leading to violence.
Huge forces have been deployed in the area.
BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari hit out at the chief minister, accusing her of provocation and alleged that police fired teargas shells to disperse the procession.
Meanwhile, TMC’s Kunal Ghosh tore into Suvendu Adhikari on the explosion at an abandoned house in West Burdwan. He wrote on X: “Last year, during Ram Navami, it was BJP that imported its brand of violence in Bengal, with its worker Sumit Shaw brandishing a pistol during a procession in Howrah. This year, on Ram Navami, bombs exploded in the BJP workers’ house – in Jitendra Tiwari’s district – while they were illegally manufacturing explosives. This is the same Jitendra Tiwari who had a backroom meeting with NIA SP a while ago. @SuvenduWB should drop all pretence. People of Bengal know that Bangla-Birodhi @BJP4India’s poll strategy here is to implement their Dangabaji Formula. This ideology of hate will see a Bishorjon in the next few weeks.”