Bengal Panchayat Polls: NHRC Official to Visit State to Review Reports of Pre-poll Violence

Amid reports of violence during nominations for the forthcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal, the National Human Right Commission's (NHRC) Director General, Investigation, Damodar Sarangi will be reaching the state on Monday to review the reports of such incidents.

A communication in this regard has been forwarded to the state Secretariat as well to the West Bengal State Election Commission by the NHRC on this count, state government sources said.

It is learnt that NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of the reports of violence during the nomination phase with a Congress worker being shot dead at Khargram in Murshidabad district on Friday and a state government employee being severely beaten up allegedly by ruling party activists at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district for allowing All India Secular Front (AISF) candidates to collection nomination papers.

Sarangi will conduct on-spot investigation collecting information about the incidents of violence as well as the action taken by the state administration on this count.

Besides that several incidents of violence over nominations have been reported from several districts like Murshidabad and Birbhum among others.

Meanwhile, the State Election Commission has decided to impose Section 144 in one kilometer radius area around the nomination centres in view of the rising incidents of violence and clashes.

A crucial hearing is scheduled on Monday by Calcutta High Court's division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya on the issues of deployment of central armed forces for the rural civic body polls as well as extension of the period of nomination process.

Already the Joint Forum of State Government Employees have informed the office of the State Election Commissioner that their members will not be participating in the pol- related duties without central armed forces security cover. The state government so far is in favour of bringing police personnel from neighbouring states rather than allowing deployment of central armed forces.