Police said the CPI(M) book stall near Phulia Rangamancha on Phulia-Taherpur Road, inaugurated on October 16 for the annual Sharad Mela, was allegedly vandalised and set on fire late on Sunday night, according to IANS and Nation Press reports. According to party workers, photographs of scholars, book stands and benches were vandalised and burnt.

CPI(M) workers said they caught one person on suspicion of involvement and handed him over to police, while another suspect allegedly fled. A complaint has been lodged at Santipur police station, and police are looking into the complaint and the circumstances of the alleged vandalism and arson; the allegations against the BJP have not been independently established.

The CPI(M) alleged the BJP carried out the attack; the BJP denied the allegation. Party workers further alleged attempts had been made to obstruct the stall even before it opened, that it had to be shifted 50-60 metres from its usual site, and that the administration ordered its demolition a day after inauguration — the party said it had set up the stall after consulting police, securing the fair committee's permission and discussing with the sub-divisional magistrate.

The incident comes amid allegations of similar attacks on CPI(M) book stalls in Kolkata and its suburbs, Howrah and Hooghly during Durga Puja, as reported by Mirror Now.

Sources: IANS, Nation Press, Mirror Now.