In poll-bound Chhattisgarh, a BJP worker was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Naxal-affected Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district on Friday with the Opposition party terming the murder a political conspiracy.
The BJP has asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take cognisance of the police failing to provide security to its workers in the State. On Saturday, former Chief Minister and BJP leader Raman Singh along with Union Health Minister Mansukh Madaviya visited the slain party worker’s village and met the bereaved family.
In a press statement, the BJP said that the murder happened when the victim, Birju Taram, a resident of Sarkheda village, was returning from a public meeting addressed by former CM Raman Singh. Mohla-Manpur is one of the 20 constituencies which will go to polls in the first phase of two-phase Assembly election on November 7.
Earlier, Superintendent of Police (Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki) Ratna Singh told journalists that Taram was gunned down around 7.30 p.m. Attributing to eyewitnesses, the police officer said that there were two or three assailants.
Providing an update on Saturday afternoon, Additional SP Vivek Shukla added that the initial probe indicated involvement of Maoist elements. “According to a preliminary probe, a Maoist involvement cannot be ruled out because the firearms and other evidence recovered point in that direction. We are also probing the other aspects, i.e. the suspicion expressed by the villagers,” said Mr. Shukla.
He faced death threats: Raman Singh
Earlier in the day, Mr. Singh said the slain BJP worker had received death threats if he sets up an idol of Goddess Durga amid Navaratri festival.
“Murders of BJP workers are not merely for demotivating them but it is a part of a political conspiracy which is spreading across Mohla-Manpur-Chowki and Bastar. If no action is taken against this and it is not crushed with a heavy hand, then definitely the entire region will be affected by it,” the senior BJP leader said.
The former CM also added that the State administration had failed to provide security to BJP workers. “This is election time. The Commission [ECI] should see how our workers are being threatened and prevented from carrying out their work. Such incidents have to be stopped immediately,” Mr. Singh further said.
The party’s statement regarding the killing added that since the beginning of this year, six of its workers have been murdered by alleged Maoists in the adjoining insurgency-affected region of Bastar while describing these as “targeted killings”.
The party’s national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia, who was in Raipur, attacked the Bhupesh Baghel-led government over the law and order situation in the State.
“In a democracy, there are rivals, not enemies; but a tribal BJP worker was shot dead and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel not uttering a single word is worrying,” Mr. Bhatia said.
