This Article is From Apr 14, 2021

"Bengal's Daughter": Mamata Banerjee Visits Grieving Cooch Behar Families After Deadly Firing

"No one can understand your pain better than Bengal's daughter," Trinamool Congress tweets.

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India News Edited by

Mamata Banerjee with a baby in Sitakulchi area of West Bengal's Cooch Behar district.

Kolkata:

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today visited the families of four persons who died in clashes with security forces at a polling booth in Cooch Behar district on Saturday. The tragic incident had earlier sparked some sharp exchanges between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP.

In a tweet posted today by the Trinamool, the party shared a picture of Ms Banerjee holding a baby in Sitalkuchi, about 680 kilometres from Kolkata, where the violence was reported.

"No one can understand your pain better than Bengal's daughter. Moving image from @MamataOfficial's visit to grieving families of Sitalkuchi genocide," the tweet said.

Speaking at a gathering in Sitakulchi today, Ms Banerjee promised to erect a martyr's memorial for those who were killed and referred to the incident as a sacrifice for democracy.

"If I say something, may be I will get another EC notice, but we are taking a decision to have memorials for all those who were killed...keep a place for this, I will come here after it's done," she said.

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Four persons were shot dead on Saturday outside a polling booth in Sitakulchi while polling was taking place in the fourth phase of the West Bengal Assembly election.

The violence unfolded after a man fainted at the polling booth, sparking rumours that he was beaten up by the security personnel. A mob gathered around the area and some people tried snatching weapons from the CISF troops, police officials said. This led the central forces to open fire.

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Ms Banerjee accused the forces of "murder", blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the incident. She also called it a "planned attack".

Condoling the deaths, PM Modi slammed the Chief Minister and her party, saying they were "jittery" about the groundswell of support for the BJP.

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