CPM's 12 hour shutdown

MALDA, Aug. 27: A day after chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said at a traders’ body meeting that he was opposed to any kind of bandh, the local CPI-M leaders today called a 12-hour bandh at Narhatta gram panchayat tomorrow in protest against the murder of a CPI-M worker. The district CPI-M leaders here said that bandh was a weapon for protest and mobilise people on a particular issue. A CPI-M worker Ali Hossian (35) was hacked to death at Babupur village in English Bazaar police station on Monday evening by a group of local people allegedly belonging to the Congress. The police recovered the body yesterday and arrested only one out of the eight named in the FIR.The police on inquiry have learnt that trouble broke out over a business deal among the rival factions, but the victim's relatives held the Congress responsible for the crime. The locals alleged that had the police taken prompt action, Ali Hossian could have survived through medical attention and his attackers arrested on Monday night.A group of villagers, who found the critically injured Hossain, on Monday evening informed the police about the incident and sought police intervention regarding his admission to the hospital. The locals alleged that the police acted late on the issue. n SNS