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Hours after a 42-year-old Congress worker was shot dead outside his home in Khargram in Murshidabad district, a local Trinamool Congress leader was among the two arrested in connection with the case on Saturday, police said. The incident comes as the nomination process for the upcoming Panchayat elections is underway. The three-tier rural elections will be held on July 8.
Police said the victim Phulchand Sheikh was a resident of Ratanpur Naldeep village of Khargram Police Station in Murshidabad district. The accused are Kajal Sheikh and Rafeeq Sheikh. According to reports, Folchand was allegedly sitting in front of his house with his son on his lap, while a group of local residents were playing cards nearby on Friday evening. Soon after, a group of about 15 people allegedly led by local TMC leader Rafiq Sheikh arrived at the site and shot Folchand six times, the sources said.
Eyewitnesses claimed that Phulchand was first taken to Khagram Hospital and then transferred to Kandy Hospital where he died during treatment. They also claimed that the group also beat three people when they tried to stop the accused from escaping. Police said the suspects managed to escape. According to sources, the West Bengal State Election Commission has directed the Murshidabad Police to file a report regarding the incident.
On Saturday, Congress State President Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry met the Phulchand family. Congress workers also staged a protest outside the West Bengal State Election Commission office in Kolkata on Saturday to demand the arrest of the accused. Congress claimed that the three people who were wounded in the attack are also congressional workers.
Chowdhury also attacked the ruling Transitional Military Council and claimed it was trying to “terrorize Congress workers”. “This is a clear indication that the TMC is trying to win the panchayat polls by using muscle power. What is the use of polling if the TMC wants to win by bullets… The TMC is trying to intimidate the congressional staff before the panchayat elections.
State assembly opposition leader and BJP MLA Suffindu Adhikari also criticized the TMC-led state government in a tweet on Saturday. “… Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and State Elections Commissioner Rajiva Sinha are covered in blood… The people of West Bengal are preparing for the worst bloodshed they have ever witnessed, because the State Elections Commission and the World Bank government have colluded to put their own interests over the lives of the people of the state.”
Meanwhile, the Transitional Military Council denied allegations made against it by opposition parties. Local TMC leaders alleged that personal rivalry was behind the killing and that Congress was trying to add political color to it.
– With PTI input
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