CPI(M) Office Set On Fire In Bengal's Jalpaiguri, Party Accuses ABVP Workers

Jalpaiguri: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri took out a protest march after the party's district office was allegedly vandalised and set on fire on late Monday night.The CPI(M) has accused workers of the Akhil Bharat Chhatra Parishad (ABVP) of carrying out the attack, a charge that the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has denied. The BJP has also separately dismissed the accusation.Following the incident, tensions prevailed in Jalpaiguri City.The huge protest march on Tuesday started from the CPI(M)'s party office, Subodh Sen Bhawan, with a large police force being deployed for the procession.According to sources, a clash broke out between ABVP and Students' Federation of India (SFI) supporters in Jalpaiguri on Monday afternoon. Several ABVP supporters were allegedly injured in the incident. Later in the evening, ABVP workers lodged a written complaint at the police station and were returning home.The situation took a fresh turn when the ABVP workers were allegedly attacked again near the CPI(M) district office while returning from the police station.Following the incident, at around 10:30 pm, a group of ABVP workers reportedly attacked the CPI(M) office.The CPI(M) alleged that the attackers vandalised the office, set fire to the premises and burnt party flags. The martyr memorial inside the office was also allegedly damaged, while several windowpanes were smashed."We saw them (ABVP workers) holding bottles filled with petrol, matches, swords, sticks. They were hurling stones at our party office and setting it on fire," Pijush Mishra, district secretary of CPI(M) Jalpaiguri, told NDTV.Upon receiving information, a large police team from Kotwali Police Station reached the spot to bring the situation under control, when an argument reportedly took place between the cops and CPI(M) supporters.The CPI(M) alleged that BJP workers accompanied the ABVP supporters in the attack, even in the presence of police personnel. The BJP and ABVP, however, have categorically denied the allegations.The incident has triggered fresh political tension in Jalpaiguri, with allegations and counter-allegations between the rival political groups.(With inputs from Roni Chowdhury)