Shukla, who was an outgoing councillor of Titagarh municipality, was gunned down on the night of October 4. Despite demands of a CBI investigation, the state government handed over the case to CID.The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Thursday interrogated Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Prashanta Chowdhury and Uttam Das in connection with BJP leader Manish Shukla’s murder earlier this month.
While Chowdhury is the Titagarh municipality administrator, Das is the administrator of the Barrackpore civic body. They are among the eight people named in the police FIR, and have also been accused by BJP leaders of conspiring to gun down Shukla. Till date, three people have been arrested in connection with the murder.
“It is a political conspiracy, we have informed the administration that we are ready to cooperate with the investigation. We have full faith in CID and it will definitely find out the real culprit,” Chowdhury said.
Das too alleged that he was being victimised by the Opposition party. “It is a conspiracy in which Prashanta and I have been framed. We will help with the investigation,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, a court in North 24 Parganas district issued a production warrant against a person lodged in a Bihar jail after the CID said it wants to question him in connection with the killing.
The court ordered that Subodh Singh, who is lodged at Beur Jail in Patna in connection with another case, be produced before it on October 28.
Commenting on the case, BJP national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who oversees the party’s state unit, on Thursday alleged that the TMC had hired shooters from Bangladesh to kill party workers, and demanded a CBI inquiry.
“The TMC is now killing BJP workers by hiring shooters. Now people are being killed by calling shooters from Bangladesh. Now, murderers from Bangladesh are killing us. You can understand how BJP workers are working there in adverse situations.”
Calling the TMC a party of “supporters of intruders” from across the border, Vijayvargiya said, “If the CBI investigates then all these faces will be exposed. We are not making any political allegations. That is why we have gone to the court and demanded a probe by the CBI.”
State minister and TMC’s North 24 Parganas district chief Jyotipriya Mullick said, “I think the CID should rather investigate Vijayvargiya’s involvement in the case,” he added.
Shukla, who was an outgoing councillor of Titagarh municipality, was gunned down on the night of October 4. Despite demands of a CBI investigation, the state government handed over the case to CID. On Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court directed the government to submit a report on the progress in the investigation.
With PTI inputs
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