Kolkata: Tension prevailed in Bengal’s Cooch Behar district on Friday following a violent clash between two factions of the Mamata Banerjee-led ruling Trinamool Congress, police said.
The Trinamool activists also set some motorcycles on fire, hurled crude bombs and opened fire at each other over capturing political control of an area in Dinhata, police said.
Sources said many party workers received injuries and empty cartridges were found at the clash site. A large contingent of police later brought the situation under control. An uneasy calm prevailed in the area after the incident.
The clash between the Trinamool Congress factions took place at a time when Union Home Minister Amit Shah paid a two-day visit to West Bengal ahead of the Assembly polls scheduled in 2021.
According to sources, the two political groups of the Trinamool Congress — one backed by Dinhata MLA Udayan Guha and another supported by Shalmara Trinamool leader Dharani Kanta Burman — were at loggerheads for the past few months over gaining political control of the area.
