A 12-hour-long bandh,called by the CPI(M) in protest against the killing of two of its members,including one from the Durganagar zonal committee of the party about 40 km from Kolkata,on late Tuesday night,crippled life in the northern suburbs of Kolkata on Wednesday morning. The two leaders were publicly shot dead. The killings are stated to be a sequel to a fight over the control of an extended portion of the Durganagar railway station. The CPI(M) leaders in Dum Dum have accused the Trinamool Congress of being involved in the killings. However,local residents as well as people in the political circles have claimed that the killings were the result of rivalry between two factions within the party over the control of a railway platform. The case brings to fore how railway platforms in all suburban sections of the Sealdah division are up for grabs. Those who want to set up stalls selling anything from tea to snacks to fruits and vegetables have to pay to the ruling party. In most places,it is the CITU-backed unions who rule the roost. Every inch of the platform has a price and largely,the CITU controls as to who will be allowed to vend his wares. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has denied the involvement of her party men in the incident. They are killing each other,Trinamool will not have to kill them, she has said.
