Cooch Behar, Oct. 9 -- Tension gripped Matalhat Gram Panchayat in Dinhata-I block of Cooch Behar district following an alleged clash between two groups of BJP leaders during a dispute linked to an emergency meeting at the Panchayat office. BJP leader Mukul Barman sustained injuries in the incident and is currently undergoing treatment.
According to local sources, the functioning of Matalhat Gram Panchayat has been affected in the absence of the Pradhan and deputy Pradhan. In an attempt to address the administrative deadlock, the block administration directed that an emergency meeting be convened at the Panchayat office. The meeting was attended by Shanku Sarkar, president of BJP's Mandal No. 4 under the Sitai Assembly Constituency, along with other local party functionaries.
Allegedly, after the meeting concluded, Mukul Barman arrived at the Panchayat office with several associates and got into a heated argument with Shanku Sarkar and other BJP leaders present there. The verbal altercation reportedly escalated into a physical confrontation, during which Barman was injured. Barman alleged that he had visited the Panchayat office for some work when Sarkar and his followers attacked him. Sarkar, however, denied the allegations.
Following the incident, police reached the spot and intervened to bring the situation under control.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.