Cooch Behar, 5 August

The convoy of Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, allegedly came under attack from TMC workers during a protest programme in Cooch Behar on Tuesday, triggering tension in the Khagrabari area of the district.

Bulletproof glasses of the vehicle in which Adhikari and former Union minister Nisith Pramanik were seated were smashed. At least one police escort vehicle had its window panes shattered.

The TMC, however, dubbed the charges a "well-scripted drama".

Armed with a Calcutta High Court order, Adhikari travelled to the north Bengal district to lead a BJP rally and demonstration outside the office of the Cooch Behar Superintendent of Police, to protest alleged brutalities unleashed on BJP workers, and submit a memorandum.

Trinamool Congress workers had put up simultaneous pickets to protest the alleged "harassment of Bengalis in BJP-ruled states" and "attempts to implement NRC through backdoors in Bengal" in 19 locations of the districts, most of which were along the route through which Adhikari's convoy passed.

Adhikari faced 'go-back' and 'thief' slogans near the Ghoksadanga area, with black flags dotting the way to his destination at Cooch Behar town.

According to BJP leaders, a mob, holding TMC party flags and black flags, gathered at the Khagrabari crossing around 12.35pm when Adhikari's convoy was passing through the area.

"The TMC assembled Rohingyas who infiltrated this region and made them carry out the attack," Adhikari alleged.

"They tried to smash the car in which I was moving with rods and sticks and, after they failed, shattered the bulletproof glasses with heavy stones," he claimed.

Stating that he was alive because of the bulletproof vehicle, the BJP leader said that he would go against the SP for the law and order breakdown with the full force of the law.

"I had taken necessary steps of informing the police and the administration before coming here, since this programme has the sanction of the high court, and because I had a hunch that something like this could happen. Now the SP will face the music," Adhikari said.

Former Union minister Nisith Pramanik alleged that the attack was led by Udayan Guha, minister of the North Bengal Development department.

"Guha was present at a local religious institution and instructed the mob to carry out the attack. It was an attempt on our lives," Pramanik claimed.

"This is a clear indicator that the TMC is fast losing popular support in Cooch Behar. They manipulated votes to win the 2024 general elections here. But they will be whitewashed in the 2026 state polls," he added.

The TMC, however, claimed that no TMC workers were involved in the vandalism and the attack was a "result of the internal feud within the BJP".

"The TMC workers held spontaneous protests today against Adhikari. But no attack on the BJP leaders was carried out from our side," said Partha Pratim Ray, former MP and TMC's Cooch Behar district president.

"The BJP orchestrated this violence on their own to settle internal scores and grab media footage," he alleged.

It is yet to be confirmed whether anyone was injured in the incident.