Kolkata:
Three media persons were attacked in Barrackpore in West Bengal today, allegedly by workers from the Trinamool Congress.
The three victims, who work in Bengali news channels, were attacked when they went to Barrackpore, about 35 km from Kolkata, to report a murder that allegedly took place Thursday night during a clash between Trinamool Congress workers.
According to the FIR filed by the victims, the attackers also attempted to pour petrol on a cameraman. However, this allegation has not been confirmed by the police.
Two of the victims are currently recovering in hospital, but are out of danger, according to the police.
Leader of the opposition, CPM's SK Mishra, has written to West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan seeking his intervention in the case.
The Trinamool Congress, however, has denied the allegations. "The incident is highly condemnable and nobody should support it," said the state's commerce and industry minister and Trinamool general secretary Partha Chatterjee, adding, "But Trinamool is in no way connected with this incident."
Trinamool Congress workers have been accused of violence in recent months. In April, flag-bearing supporters of the party's students' wing allegedly barged into Presidency University in Kolkata, ransacked and vandalised parts of the college and attacked several students and a teacher.
A Trinamool councilor, Mohmmad Iqbal, was arrested on charges of murder of a policeman during clashes in the campus of a college in Kolkata in February.