A garments shop linked to the family of Nandigram land movement leader Sk Saiyam was allegedly vandalised and set on fire after Tuesday’s bypoll, prompting a complaint to the Election Commission and accusations of political involvement from the family. The BJP has denied any connection with the incident.
The shop, located at Garchakraberia in East Midnapore’s Nandigram, belongs to Saiyam’s son, Sk Murselim. According to a report by The Telegraph, Murselim named more than a dozen BJP functionaries in his written complaint, including the Kalicharanpur mandal president, and alleged that the attackers broke the shutters, damaged the garments and then set the premises on fire.
Saiyam, who was associated with the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram, said he had been asked by police to leave the constituency before Tuesday’s by-election. He told The Telegraph that several leaders linked to the land movement were asked to stay away after Congress candidate Milan Pradhan was arrested, with pending warrants cited in relation to some of them.
Saiyam said a police officer from Nandigram later accused him of attempting to influence voters over the telephone from outside the constituency. He denied the allegation and said he, his wife and his two sons did not vote in the bypoll. He alleged that the shop was attacked after polling ended on Tuesday evening.
The family also said the shop had been stocked with garments worth several lakhs because sales typically increase before Durga Puja. The reported destruction therefore involved both damage to the premises and the loss of recently purchased inventory. The supplied report does not include an official assessment of the financial loss or a police account of the incident.
BJP Nandigram leader Meghnath Pal rejected the allegation that party workers were involved. He said the election had been conducted peacefully and suggested the incident could have resulted from personal disputes. “The BJP has nothing to do with it,” Pal was quoted as saying.
Saiyam is one of the recognised faces of the Nandigram movement that began in 2007 against a proposed chemical hub and land acquisition plans. The movement was led by the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee and helped bring several political figures, including Suvendu Adhikari, into wider prominence. Saiyam’s brother, Sk Kaiyum, was shot dead in October 2007 in an incident the family attributed to CPM supporters.
The shop fire was reported alongside wider allegations about the conduct of Tuesday’s polling. Congress candidate Milan Pradhan described the election as a “farce”. In Rejinagar, AJUP president and MLA Humayun Kabir alleged that votes had been looted, blamed the police and announced that he would boycott the Assembly while Suvendu Adhikari remained chief minister and police minister, although he later said he would attend when the chief minister was absent.
The Election Commission complaint and any police inquiry will determine whether the allegations against the named individuals are substantiated. The supplied report does not state whether arrests have been made or whether an official investigation has been announced.
