One person was killed and another injured in police firing when villagers attacked a ration dealer in Bardhaman district on Wednesday, as violence against   corruption in the Public Distribution System (PDS) in West Bengal spiralled, taking the death toll in the last three days to three.

Alleging denial of rations to villagers, a mob called out the dealer Bipadtaran Mondal from his house and severely beat him up  at Serindi village, police said. As police reached the spot to rescue him, the villagers attacked them with stones. When police failed to control the crowd by using canes, they fired five rounds after a lathi-charge failed to disperse the mob.

One villager died in the firing and another injured and was shifted to a hospital, police said.

Villagers said that the ration dealer was not providing them kerosene and cereals and alleged that he was selling it in the open market in Birbhum in collusion with other ration dealers.

In Birbhum district on Tuesday, villagers looted kerosene, rice and wheat from ration shops at Purbapara and set ablaze kerosene barrels to prevent the police from going to the spot.

Two villagers have died in police firing in Birbhum and Bankura districts in the last three days, police said.

Meanwhile, the CPM on Wednesday accused the Trinamool Congress, Congress, BJP and naxalites of deliberately trying to disrupt the ration system in the state.