BHANGAR: Villages around the PowerGrid project at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas turned into a battle zone yet again on Thursday after a motorbike rally organised by the Jami Jibika Poribesh O Bastutantra Raksha Committee came under attack near Polerhat-I, leaving several people injured. Trinamool Congress accused the rally organisers of inciting violence in the area.It all began after 11am, when the motorbike rally travelled a few kilometres from Anantapur where the Committee organised a successful public meeting on Wednesday. According to the joint secretary of the committee, Shiekh Azim, the success of the peace meeting at Anantapur was enough to make the Trinamool leaders angry. "This was the first meeting after months that saw the participation of villagers. Local Trinamool leaders took it as defiance against the government as they wouldn't allow others to hold meeting or rallies in the area. Armed goons, allegedly prodded by local Trinamool leaders, made an unprovoked attack on the rally. They set two motorbikes and a car on fire. Two participants received bullet injuries," said Azim.Armed goons allegedly threw bombs and opened fire on the rally as soon as it reached the Polerhat bazaar, spreading tension across neighbouring villages - Khamarait, Machhibhanga, Tona and Gazipur in Bhangar II block, from where the movement had taken off. Cops reached Polerhat after an hour."It was a planned attack. Local Trinamool leaders Arabul Islam and Kaiser Ahmed are desperate to gain back control over the area before the panchayat polls. And it was they who prodded the armed goons to attack the rally," said a participant. Some villagers fell trees and heaped brickbats on the roads at the Lauhati end of Rajarhat to prevent vehicular movement in the area. A section of Bhangar residents saw the clash as a desperate bid by the ruling party and the opposition to gain control ahead of the panchayat polls.Trinamool, however, denied the charge. "There was not a single Trinamool activist there. Villagers put up resistance against the rally organisers - Congress , CPM, Maoists - who were running their writ in the area. They were extorting villagers and intimidating them. Villagers were on the edge today when they spotted these men carrying arms and bombs in a car, they set it on fire," said Trinamool leader Arabul.CPM leader Sujan Chakrabarty said: "Trinamool is trying to befool the public. Their leaders mean to say that participants in the rally attacked themselves with bullets and bombs. They have gone crazy." The Left Front leader in assembly held that Bhangar has become an eyesore for the Trinamool.Trinamool minister Abdur Rezzak Molla said: "Rally organisers were carrying arms and bombs in a car fuelling trouble in the area. I informed Didi ( Mamata Banerjee ) and Sovan Chatterjee , who is in charge of party's South 24 Parganas unit. I asked for police deployment," the minister said.

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