A series of deaths in West Bengal has now given rise to a fierce political battle between the Opposition BJP and the ruling Trinamool even while the Calcutta High Court has come down heavily on the State Government.
On Wednesday, Justice Rajashekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court ordered that a second post mortem be conducted at the Army’s Command Hospital in Kolkata on the body of Bijaykrishna Bhunia, booth president of BJP at Moyna, in East Medinipur district. He also ordered that Bhunia’s family be provided with Central Government security.
On 1 May, alleged TMC workers thrashed Bijaykrishna Bhunia, booth president of BJP at Moyna, in the evening when he was on his way home in the presence of his wife.
The West Bengal BJP called a 12-hour bandh on Wednesday in Moyna block demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation and organised protests in more than 100 locations in the district. State Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP targetted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Adhikari, who reached the spot, said: “He was taken away in front of his family and was then murdered. The police have kept the body in the morgue like a thief.”
BJP members launched a protest in the area at 9 am and blocked roads at Moyna, demanding the arrest of the assailants. During the road blockade, they also burned tyres. The BJP also held a protest in front of the police station under the leadership of Moyna MLA Ashok Dinda. “We will continue the protest. The West Bengal Police acts like Trinamool Congress party people. We will be on the road till the accused persons are arrested,” said Dinda. The BJP MLA alleged Sangram Dalui, the former Trinamool MLA of Moyna, was behind the murder.
The Government called these allegations an attempt to politicise the issue. The TMC has refuted the accusation levelled at them and called it baseless.
The BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh who is also the MP from Medinipur constituency which comes under the Purba Medinipur district, said the atrocities on the party workers from the Opposition are on the rise. These atrocities have created an environment of terror before the upcoming panchayat election, he said. The Panchayat elections in West Bengal are expected to be held any time after June.
Kunal Ghosh, the state general secretary of TMC, said that BJP was trying to spoil the State’s atmosphere by making false allegations.
He said: “Whenever any BJP worker is found dead, they blame the TMC without any proof; there have been several such instances in previous cases. Later the allegations were proved wrong. Let the police investigate the matter and bring out the truth”.
Earlier, on Sunday, the body of a village sadhu was found hanging by the neck from a tree near a Kali temple in the Siuri area of Bengal’s Birbhum district. The BJP called it a “political murder”.
