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Kolkata: A 13-year-old girl was killed in an explosion triggered by a crude bomb allegedly hurled by workers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) while they were celebrating the party’s victory in the bye-elections at Kaliganj in West Bengal’s Nadia district on Monday afternoon.
“Today, a 13-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries sustained from an explosion in Kaliganj PS area of Krishnanagar police district. We shall spare no stones unturned to nab the culprits who were behind the incident. Raids are on in full swing to arrest those responsible for this extremely unfortunate death,” the state police wrote on X.
Later in the day one person was arrested in connection with the incident, police said. The accused was identified as Adar Ali Sheikh, 28. Locals claimed he was a TMC worker. Preliminary investigation said that the victim was standing in front of her house when the bomb was hurled. The victim’s parents are Left supporters, locals said.
Ziaul Sheikh, a local resident who was also beaten up, said, “TMC workers and supporters were playing with green colour, shouting slogans, bursting crackers. Crude bombs were being hurled indiscriminately at the houses of CPI(M) and Congress workers and supporters. One such bomb killed the 13-year-old girl.”
The West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Kolkata has sought a report from the superintendent of Krishnanagar police district.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee condemned the incident. “I am shocked and deeply saddened at the death of a young girl in an explosion at Barochandgar in Krishnanagar police district. My prayers and thoughts are with the family in their hour of grief. Police shall take strong and decisive legal action against the culprits at the earliest,” she wrote on X.
The BJP attacked the TMC after the incident.
“Yes, bombs. Not speeches, not sweets – bombs were thrown in the name of ‘victory’ in a bypoll!A minor girl was blown to death even before counting ended in Kaliganj. Only in @MamataOfficial’s Bengal can an election celebration look like a terrorist attack! How brutal, how sick, how inhuman do you have to be to throw bombs while kids are on the street?@AITCofficial is not a political party anymore ! it’s a criminal syndicate in power.Mamata is not a Chief Minister, she’s the patron saint of blood and fear.Shame!” Sukanta Majumdar, state BJP president wrote on X.
Alifa Ahmed, the TMC candidate, won the bye-election by 50,049 votes. While Ahmed received 102,759 votes, Ashish Ghosh, the BJP-candidate, received 52,710 votes.
The by-election was necessitated after the death of former TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahmed in February this year. Nasiruddin Ahmed was the father of Alifa Ahmed. The TMC has been winning the seat since 2011.
The TMC had first won the seat in 2011 when it came to power ending the 34-year-old Left regime. Nasiruddin Ahmed was elected the TMC legislator. In 2016, he lost the seat to Congress-CPI(M) alliance candidate Sheikh Hasanuzzaman. However, Hasanuzzaman later joined Trinamool. Nasiruddin reclaimed the Kaliganj seat in the 2021 Assembly polls. The seat fell vacant after his demise.
The bye-election is being seen as a litmus test for both the ruling TMC and its arch rival the BJP ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.
