Violence flared up once again in West Bengal’s Malda district amid allegations that valid voters’ names were being removed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
After a blockade of National Highway-12 in Sujapur on Wednesday, fresh protests broke out on Thursday morning in Narayanpur under Old Malda, where a large number of demonstrators staged a road blockade. Security forces, including heavy police deployment and central forces, were rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.
The unrest, which had already spread from Sujapur to Mothabari, intensified further as protests erupted in multiple areas. In Englishbazar’s Jadupur area, hundreds of people carrying the national flag blocked roads from around 10 am, protesting the alleged deletion of names from voter lists.
Tensions escalated when police reached the scene. An agitated mob attacked a police vehicle on the Jadupur bypass, vandalising it. The driver sustained head injuries after being hit by stones.
Earlier, in a major incident on Wednesday, seven judges engaged in SIR-related work were reportedly held for nearly nine hours in the Mothabari. The unprecedented incident prompted the Election Commission of India to seek a detailed report from the state’s Director General of Police.
A protester, identified as Moinul Sheikh, alleged that names of voters, particularly from minority-dominated villages, were being selectively removed. He claimed that earlier assurances regarding inclusion based on the 2002 voter list were being ignored, with authorities citing “logical discrepancies” to delete names.
