Bharatiya Janata Party MP Arjun Singh suffered head injuries on Sunday after the police allegedly charged a group of people in Kankinara in North 24 Parganas district with batons after they blocked a road, PTI reported.

Singh claimed Barrackpore Police Commissioner Manoj Verma struck him on the head, causing him to bleed. The parliamentarian, wearing a blood-soaked shirt and a bandage on his head, accused the police of attacking a peaceful protest by the saffron party’s workers over the alleged capture of its office in Shyamnagar town by the Trinamool Congress. Earlier in the day, the MP’s car was allegedly vandalised by suspected members of the ruling party.

Singh, who was first taken to a state-run hospital in Bhatpara, was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata’s Salt Lake neighbourhood, Hindustan Times reported.

An unidentified police officer told the newspaper that BJP workers threw stones at the police. “We had to resort to lathicharge and use tear gas,” the officer added. “Some miscreants used crude bombs as well.”

“Singh is making false allegations,” said state minister and Trinamool’s district President Jyoti Priya Mallick. “Verma was not even present at the spot where he was injured. Singh was hit by stones that his supporters were throwing at the police. Singh is a ruffian. He has been instigating violence ever since BJP won the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat.”

Several areas, including Bhatpara and Kankinara, have witnessed violence since Singh’s victory in the elections. He was a Trinamool MLA earlier.

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