At least 20 supporters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), including a few party senior officials, were injured when a mob allegedly attacked a rally in Tripura on Saturday, PTI reported. A party official said that a complaint has been filed against 10 supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party at a local police station.

Superintendent of Police Jai Singh Meena said that a mob of about 25 people attacked the CPI(M) rally at Belonia town, about 110 km from the state capital Agartala. “The police immediately rushed to the spot and the attackers fled,” he said.

The CPI(M) workers had organised the rally to demand a probe into the Rafale deal signed with France. The activists claimed that workers of the ruling BJP pelted them with stones.

“Those who attacked our rally were all hooligans of BJP,” said CPI(M) Belonia sub-division Secretary Tapas Dutta. “The police were present when we were attacked.”

Meena said that the police managed to bring the situation immediately under control, reported The Indian Express. “Later, CPI(M) supporters, who joined the procession, organised a meeting,” he said.

Dutta claimed that CPI(M) South Tripura District Secretary Basudeb Majumder and Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council executive member Parikshit Murasingh were among the injured.

However, Tripura BJP spokesperson Ashok Sinha denied the allegations. “This is not the culture of the BJP to attack political opponents,” he said. “Our party had nothing to do if some local people attacked them. The BJP cannot be blamed for it.”

Sinha added that the CPI(M) was in the habit of “levelling false, baseless and politically motivated” allegations.