Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Debendra Nath Ray from Hemtabad was found hanging in front of a shop in Bengal’s North Dinajpur district on Monday morning.
The incident came to light after the locals spotted Ray hanging in front of a shop and they alerted the local police and immediately a team rushed to the spot and sent the body for post mortem examination.
Ray’s family members alleged a foul play and claimed that he was murdered and then hanged since his hands were tied. On Sunday night, he was called up by some unknown persons and since then he went missing, the family members added.
Demanding a high-level inquiry into the matter, state’s BJP President, Dilip Ghosh suspected that he was murdered. “It is unfortunate that there is no law and order in Bengal. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has completely failed in maintaining law and order situation in Bengal. We are in touch with the local leaders and trying to get more details about the case,” Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, the local BJP leaders staged protests in the area and accused police of not investigating the matter.
“The suspected heinous killing of Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad in West Bengal, is extremely shocking and deplorable. This speaks of the Gunda Raj & failure of law and order in the Mamta govt,” National President of BJP, JP Nadda said on Twitter.
Refuting the allegations, the district (North Dinajpur) president of Trinamool Congress, Amal Acharya, said, “He was a good human being and I used to know him personally despite our political differences. I am personally devastated with the news. If it is a murder, I want a thorough investigation into the matter.”
In 2016, Debendra Nath Roy was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Hemtabad as a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
In May 2019, he along with Subhranshu Roy, Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya and more than 50 Councillors joined the BJP in the presence of senior BJP leaders Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijayvargiya.
LIVE TV
