Kolkata, May 18: Violence marred the third phase of panchayat elections in West Bengal with 14 deaths reported from Murshidabad alone where the Congress fought a fierce battle to retain the Murshidabad Zilla Parishad.

Incidentally, the other zilla parishad held by the opposition, out of the 17, is the Malda zilla parishad that is run by the grand alliance of the Congress, Trinamool Congress and BJP.

While in the first phase, held on May 11, no death was reported, in the second phase, held on May 14, seven people died.

On Sunday, polling was held in seven districts — Murshidabad, Malda, Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Coochbehar.

Till 3 in the afternoon more than 55 per cent polling was reported from the districts, according to Raj Kanojia, IG, state police. He added that around 100 people were arrested in connection with various violent incidents.

Official sources put the death toll in at 16.

Four deaths were reported from Domkal area of Murshidabad, following clashes between Congress and CPI(M) workers. In Raninagar in Murshidabad district, an altercation between the CPI(M) and Congress workers at a polling station turned violent leading to firing and hurling of bombs.

Congress supporter Bhupati Mondal was shot while a bullet hit a voter. Five others were critically injured in the clash. Mondal later died in the hospital.

In Jalpaiguri district’s Madarihat area, the battered body of a CPI(M) supporter was found near National Highway 31.

One person was killed in Birbhum’s Nannur district when he was trying to make bombs. But the IG could not confirm these two cases.

The state Election Commission termed the elections peaceful. “The turn-out was low but overall it was peaceful. There were stray incidents and five people lost their lives,” S N Roychoudhury, Special Secretary of the Election Commission, said.

CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose said: “This time the elections have been less violent than that in 2003.”

The Congress, on the other hand, expressed hope that it would retain both the Malda and Murshidabad zilla parishads.

“Apart from retaining these two, we will win North Dinajpur zilla parishad too,” Subrata Mukherjee, Congress leader, said.