The death of a 34-year-old man at Gayeshpur in Nadia district on Sunday morning once again triggered fresh allegations of political killing by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The body of Bijoy Shil was found in a mango orchard near his residence.
Local BJP MP Jaganath Sarkar and Bijpur MLA Subhranshu Roy were among the leaders who visited the residence of the youth and said that Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters were behind the crime.
“Bijoy Shil, only aged 34 and an active BJP worker murdered and found hanging in Nadia. Same pattern in every murder by the goons. Use of terror to stop the working of BJP? We won’t stop and BJP will ensure justice for all the murdered workers! These political ‘Murders’ must stop,” the West Bengal BJP tweeted.
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said that killing BJP supporters and then hanging them had been happening almost on a daily basis.
The BJP leadership staged a protest outside the local police station and called for a 12-hour bandh in Kalyani on Monday to condemn the incident. This is the third instance in the last seven days when the BJP has called a bandh locally in West Bengal to protest unnatural death.
Several BJP leaders took to social media targeting the ruling TMC alleging political killing. A number of such instances have come to fore where bodies of BJP supporters, including party MLA Debendra Nath Roy, were found hanging in public. The TMC leadership has described these incidents as deaths by suicide.
Claims and counter claims over the political affiliation of the deceased were made by the BJP and the TMC.
Both the BJP MP and the MLA said that Shil was a party supporter. But his wife said that her husband was not associated with any party but it was not a case of suicide and her husband was receiving threats. A family member of the deceased, who is an active member of the youth wing of the BJP, said that the murder was to instil fear among locals.
Local TMC leader Mintu De said that Shil was a supporter of the ruling party. “ It is a case of suicide. The BJP is trying to reap political dividends over the issue,” he said.
Kolkata suicide prevention helpline: 24637401/24637432
