The Rapid Action Force (RAF) was called out in Khanakul in Hooghly district and the police fired at least seven rounds at rampaging mobs at Nanoor village in Birbhum district as political violence between the CPM and Trinamool Congress escalated on Tuesday. Hooghly, Birbhum, East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas in south Bengal have been badly hit by the escalating violence.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee called up Union Home Minister P Chidambaram a number of times during the day to lodge her protest against the CPM “resorting to terror” and sought the Centre’s intervention.

The Trinamool claimed that as many as 168 of its party members had been killed since the Lok Sabha polls while the CPM put its casualty at 130. This is apart from hundreds missing and those who have fled their homes.

“It is Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee under whose instructions armed CPM cadres are attacking village after village in Bengal. I had a talk with the Union Home Minister. We demanded intervention from the Centre since the state government has failed to maintain law and order,” said Mamata Banerjee at a rally in Nandigram.

State Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said the various groups were trying to gain control of different areas and resorting to violence. He added that the police and administration had been asked to work impartially.

“There is a fight going on for capturing areas in the state. Firearms have been used in some places. The Chief Minister has asked the police and administration to act neutrally and adequately.”

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