On Tuesday, Suvendu Adhikari, West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition demanded that a court-monitored probe by the CBI be held into the murders of two elected councillors, one of Trinamool Congress and the other of Congress, in North 24 Parganas and Purulia districts respectively. Adhikari further appealed the families of the slain councilors to go to court and demand a CBI probe.
He sat next to suspended MLAs Mihir Goswami and Sudip Mukherjee in the assembly on Monday. The Nandigram MLA said, “As far as we know, the Chief Minister will not order a CBI probe into the twin murders.” The state government should immediately hand over the investigation to the CBI, he said.
Two-time TMC councillor of Panihati Municipality, Anupam Dutta, and four-time Congress councillor of Jhalda Municipality, Tapan Kandu, were shot dead in separate incidents on March 13.
“The wife of the slain TMC councillor in Panihati has already sought a CBI probe. We would urge both the families to move the high court with the demand for a CBI probe. We will support them. In fact, a court-monitored CBI probe should be held in the two cases,” Adhikari was quoted saying by the PTI.
The local BJP leadership had visited the residence of the slain Congress councillor in Jhalda, and the party was also ready to reach out to Dutta’s family, Adhikari said.
When Adhikari was asked about AAP’s keenness in make inroads in West Bengal after its win in Punjab assembly polls, he said: “All parties should visit the state and take a look at the situation.”
“Here, ruling party representatives are not safe, forget about the opposition. Hundreds of BJP workers have been killed in the last few years,” he added.
With inputs from agencies.