WB: BJP leader’s nephew allegedly shot dead by police during raids in Kaliaganj

Locals alleged that the police went to the village to conduct raids after an irate mob set barracks ablaze inside the Kaliaganj police station on Tuesday

A 33-year-old man, who is also the nephew of a panchayat-level Bharatiya Janata Party leader, was allegedly shot dead by the police in Kaliaganj in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district early on Thursday.

(Representative Photo)

Locals alleged that the police went to the village to conduct raids after an irate mob attacked policemen and set barracks ablaze inside the Kaliaganj police station on Tuesday.

“Around 2 am, police came to the village looking for me. I was not at home as I had gone to attend a wedding ceremony. They were taking away my father and son-in-law and the women in the family protested. When my nephew Mrityunjay Barman questioned them, he was shot dead,” Bishnu Barman, the local BJP leader, told media persons.

“I heard a commotion and the sound of two rounds of gunfire. When I came out, I found the man was lying on the road. We took him to the hospital. Doctors declared him dead on arrival,” a local villager told the media.

Meanwhile, the BJP lashed out at the Trinamool Congress government, demanding chief minister Mamata Banerjee to take responsibility for the incident.

“Trigger happy ‘Mamata’ police raided the house of a BJP panchayat samiti member Bishnu Barman at 2:30 am midnight but did not find him. They brutally shot dead a Rajbangshi young man named Mrityunjay Barma... This is tyranny and state terror at its worst form...the state is burning and sliding into a phase of civil unrest,” tweeted Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

The TMC hit back saying that the BJP was doing petty politics as “they have been rejected by the people”.

“Any death is unfortunate. The cause of the death needs to be ascertained through post-mortem and magisterial inquest. But what the BJP is doing is nothing by vulture-politics over dead bodies. Last year, when a BJP worker named Arjun Chaurasia had died, Union home minister Amit Shah had alleged that the TMC had murdered him. Later, the post-mortem report from the hospital revealed that he died by suicide,” TMC MP Santanu Sen said.

Clashes broke out in Kaliaganj last week over the alleged rape and murder of a teenage village girl. On Tuesday, fresh violence erupted, and an irate mob set a police barrack on fire in which at least 17 policemen were injured. Around 32 people were arrested, while more raids are being carried out.

On Wednesday, a purported video went viral in which some policemen were seen huddled in a room inside a house and being beaten with sticks by some youths.

The CM on Wednesday accused the BJP of ‘bringing goons from outside the state’ to orchestrate the clashes and attack the police station.

Prohibitory orders are in place in some areas of the district, while internet services have also been suspended following the intermittent clashes since last week.