Kolkata, May 14 : Sporadic violence and clashes between opposing political groups marred the initial hours of West Bengal panchayat polls on Monday.

The polling for electing 38,616 representatives across three tiers of state (rural) bodies started at 7 a.m. and would continue till 5 p.m.

According to the State Election Commission (SEC), 12.2 per cent votes were cast in the initial two hours of polling till 9 a.m.

Reports of clashes and booth capturing were received from pockets of South 24 Parganas, West Midnapore and Cooch Behar districts.

In South 24 Parnagas' Bhangar the 'Jomi, Jibika, Bastutantra O Poribesh Raksha Committee' accused armed miscreants of Trinamool Congress of kidnapping their Panchayat Samiti candidate Sariful Mullick and terrorising the voters.

The committee that was formed to protect land, livelihood, ecology and environment has been spearheading an anti-power grid movement in the area and has fielded nine independent candidate in the rural polls.

The committee also accused the police of not taking action against the miscreants involved in casting false votes and backing the men of Trinamool Congress leader Arabul Islam, who was arrested three days back in an alleged case of murder.

Clashes were also reported in the district's Namkhana and several other areas.

In north Bengal's Jalpaiguri, Minister in-charge of north Bengal development, Rabindranath Ghosh, was accused of slapping a Bharatiya Janata Party polling agent and forcing him out of the polling premises.

The SEC sought a report from the Jalpaiguri District Magistrate regarding the incident. The Minister, however, denied all allegations.

Incidents of violence took place in East Midnapore district's Panskura and West Midnapore district's Keshpur where gun totting miscreants gathered outside the polling stations and beat up the voters.

The dates of state rural polls were initially declared on May 1, 3 and 5 but as the nomination process started in April, all the opposition parties accused the Trinamool of indulging in strongarm tactics to prevent them from filing nominations.

The matter reached the Calcutta High Court, that subsequently stayed the polling process and asked the SEC to extend nomination deadline and announce fresh election schedule.

More bitter legal battles followed, at the end of which the SEC declared May 14 as the new polling date.

Statistics reveal that of the total 58,692 seats in the three tiers of rural local bodies, 20,076 seats or 34.2 per cent have already been decided uncontested, with the Trinamool bagging a whopping proportion of these seats.

These seats include 16,814 of the total 48,650 in gram panchayats, 3,059 of the total 9,217 in panchayat samitis and 203 of the total 825 in zila parishads.The Supreme Court has now asked the SEC not to issue winning certificates in case of the uncontested seats.

The SEC has, on the other hand, said all arrangements had been made for providing security for the polls. Around 71,500 armed personnel were on duty, manning every booth.

Armed forces have also arrived from Assam, Odisha, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh to strengthen security arrangements.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to release Mihir Shah, the main accused in a BMW hit-and-run case, on the ground of "illegal" arrest.

Shah, the 24-year-old son of a former Shiv Sena leader, and his driver Rajrishi Bidawat had filed petitions in the HC claiming they have been illegally detained and sought immediate release.

Shah was arrested on July 9, two days after he allegedly rammed his BMW car into a two-wheeler in Mumbai's Worli area, killing 45-year-old woman Kaveri Nakhwa and leaving her husband Pradeep injured.

His driver Bidawat, who was also present in the car at the time of the accident, was arrested on the day of the incident.

As per their pleas, the police had not informed them the grounds of their arrest at the time, which they claimed was in violation of the law.

A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on Monday dismissed the petitions.

"Both the petitions are dismissed," the court said.

The duo sought their release, claiming any further detention would be in utter violation of the constitutional mandate and a failure to comply with Section 50 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Under this section, the police, while arresting a person, have to communicate to him/her full particulars of the offence for which he/she is being arrested or other grounds for such arrest.

Both Shah and Bidawat are presently in judicial custody.

In their habeas corpus (produce the person) petitions filed in the HC in August, Shah and Bidawat claimed their detention was illegal and sought that they be released immediately.

Shah, in the plea, sought quashing of the orders passed by a local court remanding him first in police custody and then judicial custody.

He also sought for his arrest to be declared as illegal.

Shah is accused of speeding off towards the Bandra Worli Sea Link after the accident, even as the woman remained on the bonnet of the car and then got entangled in its wheels, for a distance of more than 1.5 kilometres.

As per police, Shah, who fled from the scene, was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Mihir Shah's father and former Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah had also been arrested in the case, but was later granted bail.