Agartala: A CPI-M member was killed and at least 30 workers and leaders of the Left party and the ruling BJP were injured after the activists of both the parties on Wednesday engaged in a violent clash at Charilam in Tripura’s Sepahijala district, the police said.
According to the police, of the 30 injured, around 20 members and workers of the two parties were admitted to the hospitals after the violence.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) member Sahid Mia, 65, succumbed to his injuries at the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital while the other injured individuals are undergoing medical treatment.
The CPI-M in a statement said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers attacked their leaders and members when they tried to reopen one of their party offices at Charilam.
The injured party leaders include former Finance and Information Minister Bhanu Lal Saha and district leader Pradesh Roy. The CPI-M, immediately after the incident, called statewide protests on Thursday.
The BJP, however, denied the allegation, and claimed that the CPI-M workers attacked a party rally injuring around 15 party workers.
BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee said that the CPI-M and the other opposition parties are trying to create lawlessness in Tripura to get the political mileage months ahead of the assembly polls.
Police said that tension has been prevailing in the trouble-torn Charilam and adjoining areas.
Additional security forces led by senior police officers have been deployed to prevent any further escalation of tensions.
