A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker was on Friday killed in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.
Prashanta Ray Basunia was shot at his home at Dinhata. The mother of the deceased said that her son was an active BJP worker and his killing was for political reasons.
The killing ahead of the panchayat poll in the State triggered strong political reactions, and BJP leaders reached the residence of the deceased. BJP supporters blocked roads at Dinhata in protest of the death.
Reacting to the killing, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that the State’s law and order was in tatters. “BJP leader Prashanta Ray Basunia shot dead in Dinhata; Cooch Behar district; WB. The assailants forcefully entered his house and shot him,” Mr. Adhikari said on social media.
The BJP leader raised the demand for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI). “Hundreds of party members are quitting the regional TMC party in Dinhata & joining the BJP every day. Scared by this desertion, the top-level leadership of the TMC party got rattled. This gruesome political murder is the reaction. I demand CBI investigation as any fair investigation by the police would be obstructed or influenced by the ruling party, due to the involvement of “influential” people,” Mr. Adhikari said on social media.
Dinhata MLA and Minister for North Bengal Development Udayan Guha said that the murder was the result of factionalism within the BJP. Over the past few weeks, a number of murders had occurred and the State BJP leadership blamed the Trinamool Congress for the killings. Between April 27 and May 2, three BJP supporters were killed.
Bijaykrishna Bhuniya, a BJP worker, was killed on May 2 in the State’s Purba Medinipur district and prior to that on April 29, Rajendra Shaw, a BJP leader, was shot dead on National Highway -19 under the Jamuria police station in Asansol. Mrityunjay Barman, a Rajbangshi youth, was killed at Kaliganj on April 27.
