The central forces had assembled at one of the camps in Howrah ahead of polling in the Lok Sabha elections which will take place on 6 May.
Soldiers stand guard outside a strong room where EVMs used in the fourth phase of 2019 Lok Sabha elections are stored in Bolpur, West Bengal on April 30, 2019. (File Photo: IANS)
One central force jawan was shot dead and two others were injured in a gunfight at a central paramilitary base camp in Howrah’s Bagnan on Thursday.
According to reports, the central forces had assembled at one of the camps in Howrah ahead of polling in the Lok Sabha elections which will take place on 6 May.
The deceased jawan has been identified as Bholanath Das. The injured have been identified as Anil Rajbanshi and Rantu Mani. Both the injured have been shifted to the hospital for treatment.
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The incident happened when an Assam Rifles jawan identified as Lakshmikant Barman allegedly opened fire at his comrades. Reports say that he fired 13-18 rounds.
Barman has been taken into custody. Authorities are trying to establish what led to the shooting incident.
On Wednesday, the Election Commission had announced that all polling booths in the state will have central security forces only and not state police.
Elections in West Bengal are being held in seven phases. Poll violence has been reported in all four phases of voting held so far.
The fourth phase of the elections in West Bengal was particularly violent. While the car of sitting BJP MP Babul Supriyo in Asansol was vandalised, a mob tried to attack a polling booth in Birbhum.
The EC said that around 250 villagers tried to vandalise the booth in Birbhum’s Dubrajpur after the security force personnel refused to allow 10-15 young boys from using their mobile phones at the polling booth.
Read More: Poll violence mars phase 4 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal
“The villagers started hurling stones and tried to break the door. The jawan went inside the booth to protect the EVMs and fired one bullet on the roof,” the EC said at a press conference on 29 April.
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