2 TMC MLAs targeted by miscreants in Bengal's North 24-Parganas

Kolkata: Two ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs were targeted by miscreants in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, police said on Friday.

TMC MLA Usha Rani Mondal from Minakha sustained minor injuries when she was allegedly mobbed by 100 to 150 people in Haroa area on Thursday night while returning from a Kali Puja pandal, police said.

Mondal told police that she was forced out of her vehicle and assaulted, with several gunshots fired during the incident.

"I was forced to come out of my vehicle and assaulted. Several rounds of bullets were fired," she said.

She claimed the attack was orchestrated by a leader who was suspended from the party for illegal activities ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

In another incident, TMC MLA Sukumar Mahata from Sandeshkhali was attacked while returning from a Kali Puja event in Nazat.

He claimed that miscreants assaulted and injured some of his party members, one of whom had to be hospitalised.

"As I was returning home after inaugurating a Kali puja pandal, some miscreants attacked my vehicle. Some of our partymen, trailing my vehicle, were beaten up and one had to be hospitalised," Mahata said.

He alleged that a rival faction, sidelined for illegal activities, was responsible for the attack.

Police have launched investigations into both incidents, with at least two arrests made so far and a manhunt underway.

The riverine regions of Sandeshkhali and Minakhan had seen unrest earlier this year, as rural women hit the streets alleging atrocities by local TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his men.