Kolkata, May 5 (IANS) Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed West Bengal Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and CAPFs deployed in the state to ensure zero tolerance towards post-poll violence, an official of the Commission said on Tuesday evening.

The directive from the Election Commission came following reports that several incidents of violence took place across the state from Monday evening, after the West Bengal Assembly elections results were declared.

The Trinamool Congress also alleged that several of its party offices were vandalised and its workers were beaten up by BJP workers and supporters.

The party office of former Trinamool Congress MLA Aroop Biswas was ransacked in the Tollygunge area in south Kolkata. A Trinamool Congress party office in the Beliaghata area was vandalised, and a party worker was beaten up.

The Trinamool Congress also claimed that Abhishek Banerjee’s party office in Amtala also came under a mob attack.

Following such reports, the Election Commission issued a directive to the state Chief Secretary, DGP and CAPF personnel to act strongly against post-poll violence and adopt a zero-tolerance policy for such incidents.

After a decade and a half, there has been another political change in the state. The BJP has come to power by bringing down the Trinamool Congress government. The party won 207 seats in the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly. Trinamool’s seats have come down to 80 from 215 it won in 2021.

Earlier in the day, Kolkata Police warned legal action against anyone who would spread fake or unrelated posts on social media to create unrest in the city, following the declaration of the West Bengal Assembly elections results.

The police further said that the situation in the city is under control and asked people to refrain from sharing such posts. The move from Kolkata Police came after several photos and videos were doing the rounds on social media, which claimed incidents of violence taking place in and around the city after the West Bengal Assembly elections results were declared.

–IANS

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