By IANS
Kolkata : One person was killed in police firing and several people, including policemen, were injured in West Bengal Wednesday in continuing protests against corruption in the public distribution system (PDS).
The incident occurred in Ketugram in Burdwan district when irate villagers laid a siege on “ration dealers” – as PDS agents are commonly referred to – and demanded compensation from them for insufficient supplies of wheat and rice. A police contingent rushed to the spot and rescued the ration dealers.
Angry at the police action, the villagers attacked the houses of ration dealers and hurled stones at the police. They also set fire to police vehicles. As things went out of control, police first resorted to a baton-charge and then opened fire.
“We had to fire six rounds to bring the situation under control after a baton-charge failed to disperse the mob. Villager Dhanu Das, 35, was killed on the spot and several people, including many of our officers, were injured. The situation is still tense,” Piyush Pandey, Burdwan superintendent of police, told IANS.
Arson, looting and ransacking of ration shops have been reported from several areas in the district, around 128 km from Kolkata. “Ration dealers and their families are being given adequate protection,” Pandey added.
Protests against corrupt ration dealers are continuing to rock Birbhum, Bankura and Burdwan. Trouble first broke out Sep 16, but things flared up Monday. PDS dealers have been accused of privately selling off government-subsidised wheat and rice at higher rates.
In Mayureswar and Kirnahar of Birbhum district, about 250 km from here, the houses of six ration dealers were set ablaze and their families assaulted Wednesday. Villagers also looted property and foodgrain.
Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) had called a 12-hour strike in the district to protest against corrupt ration dealers, but it was later withdrawn at the behest of local leaders.
Protests were also reported from Bankura district, where they first began.
On Monday, a protestor, Ayub Sheikh, was killed in police firing outside a block office in Labhpur area of Birbhum district when political leaders were discussing the issue inside.
A police jeep and several motorcycles were burnt by a mob of over 2,000 that refused to budge until police fired.
Nearly 2,500 villagers had marched to the block office, about 230 km from here, when the all-party meeting was in progress around 12 p.m. Some Congress supporters were already there with a charter of demands.
Panic-stricken employees locked the main gate, but villagers broke it open, hurled chairs and tables and overturned other furniture.
“They tried to set fire to the panchayat office and also went to my quarters, but police managed to drive them away,” Labhpur block development officer Arnab Chatterjee said.
Rapid Action Force and Combat Force soldiers were called in.
On Sep 16, two men were injured at Radhamohanpur in Bankura district after villagers beat up Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders who refused to listen to their complaints about non-availability of wheat and rice.
On Monday, West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy admitted: “The public distribution system is not functioning properly. We have asked the food and supplies department to do the needful.”
Around 1,200 ration dealers of Bankura submitted their licenses to district magistrate Surendra Gupta Tuesday in protest against the attack on them.