CPM activists clash with cops

Kolkata: Several people were on Thursday injured in clashes that broke out between the police and student activists of the CPI(M) outside the office of the State Election Commission (SEC).

The activists had gathered near the SEC office at Rawdon Street, in the central part of the city, to protest against the violence during the filing of nominations for next month’s panchayat polls, a police officer said.

Trouble began when the demonstrators, who sought state election commissioner A.K. Singh’s resignation, tried to break the police cordon that has been set up outside the SEC office to avert any untoward incident, he said. The police, after failing to pacify the crowd, resorted to “mild lathicharge” to push back the crowd, he added.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front has called for a six-hour strike in West Bengal on Friday in protest against the pre-poll violence in the state.