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Seven people were killed and several others including three children were injured, as violence escalated today in the fourth phase of West Bengal Panchayat election, taking the total death toll during the rural poll to 15.
Two CPI-M workers, who were missing since Sunday night, were found dead this morning in Birbhum's Mayureswar area. Another CPI-M worker was killed in a political clash between TMC and CPIM in Nadia's Mayapur.
One Congress worker was killed as CRPF jawans resorted to firing to curb violence in Malda's Ratua. A woman, caught amid a political clash in the booth premise, lost her life in Murshidabad's Beldanga.
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Also, two local goons in the district while making bombs at Raninagar village in the morning on Monday.
Three children were critically injured in Malda's Kaliachak in bomb blasts. All the three children were taken to the hospital and one of them is said to be critical. This apart, many more people were critically injured and the death toll may rise. A TMC supporter in Murshidad's Islampur and father of an independent candidate at in Kasba near Bolpur sustained bullet injuries. Reports of many such political violence engaging TMC, Left and Congress kept pouring in since morning from all the districts – Malda, Birbhum, Nadia and Murshidabad – which went to poll today in the fourth phase of election.
Apart from the first phase of polling in the Naxalite-prone districts of Purulia, Bankura and West Medinipur, which saw only sporadic violence, incidents of political clashes have only escalated over the days.
Earlier in the second and third phase three and five people were killed respectively in political violence in the poll-bound districts, taking the death toll during the rural poll to 15.
So far the voter turn out is concerned, Nadia, Birbhum, and Murshidabad recorded an averge 75 per cent polling till 5 pm. Voter turn out at Malda, on the other hand, was about 67 per cent.
The last phases of polling is scheduled on July 25 in the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur and counting will take place on July 29.
