Gloom descends in violence-hit Cooch Behar village as bodies taken for burial

Security personnel keep vigil at a polling station after Election Commission ordered of stopping the voting exercise at polling station number 126 in Sitalkuchi, where clashes erupted between locals and central forces, at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Credit: PTI Photo

A pall of gloom prevailed at Jorepatki village on Sunday as the bodies of four persons, who died when CISF personnel opened fire allegedly after coming under attack from locals, were taken for burial by the bereaved families.

Wreaths were laid on the bodies, draped in Trinamool Congress flags, by the party's district president Partha Pratim Roy at a ground near the school premises where the incident of firing had taken place.

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The four people who were killed in CISF firing during the fourth phase of polling at a booth in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district on Saturday hailed from the village.

Wearing black badges, villagers and relatives of the deceased went around the village with the bodies to protest the deaths. Tension was palpable in the area as people holding black flags walked in a procession with the bodies.

Claiming that the central forces opened fire on people, who were standing in a queue outside the booth at Jorepatki school, the villagers demanded justice and action against those responsible for the incident.

Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee spoke to kin of the deceased over the phone.