Bengal: 3 shot dead in clashes during panchayat poll nomination filing

Three people were shot dead and several others injured in two districts of West Bengal on Thursday during the ongoing violence over filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat elections, police officials said.

Two persons were killed at Bhangore in South 24 Parganas district, while another youth was gunned down by miscreants at Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur district.

Thursday was the last day for filing nomination papers.

Opposition parties have been alleging that the ruling Trinamool Congress supporters resorted to violence to prevent their candidates from filing nomination papers.

The state government, however, claimed that more opposition candidates filed nominations than those of the ruling party till Wednesday.