WB governor opens 'Peace Room' to tackle pre-poll violence, BJP worker killed

KOLKATA: Worried over the rampant violence ahead of the Panchayat Election in West Bengal, governor CV Ananda Bose has opened a "Peace Room" at Raj Bhavan so that the affected people can lodge their grievances with him and he can refer them to the Mamata Banerjee government and state election commissioner Rajiva Sinha for remedy.

On Saturday night, the Raj Bhavan said, "In continuation of the frequent field visits of the Governor to the violence affected areas and in view of the numerous representations received from the citizens on the criminal intimidation in pre-poll Bengal, a help room has been opened in Raj Bhavan to respond to the grievances of the public."

It added, "The Peace Room will refer the issues to the Government and State Election Commissioner for appropriate action. Correspondence to the Peace Room : OSD2w.b.governor@gmail.com

Or call the Help Desk : 033-22001641." This is the second time when Mr Bose resorted to such an initiative for the public.

On April 1, he had constituted a "Special Cell" at Raj Bhavan for real-time monitoring of the ground situation after violent clashes broke out over Ram Navami rallies in the state. Hours after the governor's fresh initiative, a BJP worker was murdered in Coochbehar of North Bengal.

The victim, Shambhu Das (28), was found lying dead with multiple injuries at a jute field at block II in Dinhata early on Sunday. The private tutor was the brother-in-law of Baishakhi Das, a BJP candidate in the gram panchayat polls. His father Naren Das alleged that he went out with a group of men who had come home to talk to him.

Union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik visited the Das family later. Accusing the TMC of killing Shambhu, he claimed, "How can people be safe when a union minister like me is attacked here? The ruling party earlier threatened his family with dire consequences if his sister-in-law withdrew her nomination."

Meanwhile a young TMC worker suffered severe burn injuries due to an explosion at Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas. Arif Hossain Mollah, the injured, was admitted to a hospital. The explosion took place when he was making bombs with his fellows early Sunday.