Sandeshkhali: West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar injured; admitted to hospital

North 24 Parganas (West Bengal): West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was admitted to Basirhat multi-facility hospital after he was injured during a police lathi charge as a scuffle broke out between Police and party workers on Wednesday.

The West Bengal government have reimposed section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in and around 500 metres of area in seven-gram panchayats, including Sandeshkhali.

Sector 144 has been imposed in the area till February 19 to maintain law and order in view of the agitation by the BJP over allegations of sexual harassment by women in Sandeshkhali block.

The political storm over the events at Bengal's Sandeshkhali sparked violence in another part of the state on Tuesday.

Clashes broke out between police personnel and BJP supporters on Tuesday after efforts were made to defy prohibitory orders clamped in the vicinity of the SP's office in West Bengal's Basirhat prior to the agitation of the party over allegations of sexual harassment of women in Sandeshkhali block.

BJP workers, led by the party's state chief, Sukanta Majumdar, clashed with the police in Basirhat after being stopped from holding a protest.

Police personnel were seen charging party workers as the latter broke through barricades and entered the village. Scenes of chaos filled the village as the police resorted to lathi-charge to drive away the protesters.

Women in Sandeshkhali have been agitating for the last few days over alleged atrocities committed against them by TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his aides.

Earlier, locals, particularly women, marched through various sections of Sandeshkhali, carrying slippers in their hands, demanding the arrest of TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh in an alleged land ration allotment scam and the alleged rape incidents.