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West Bengal: Unidentified assailants murder local TMC leader near Kolkata
The victim was known to be a close associate of Saokat Mollah, the TMC legislator from Canning East assembly seat.
A local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was on Thursday night murdered by unidentified assailants in Bhangar area of South 24 Parganas, around 30km east of Kolkata, the police said.
The victim, identified as 38-year-old Rajjak Khan, was an anchal president of the TMC in the Chaltaberia area of Bhangar and was known to be a close associate of Saokat Mollah, the TMC legislator from Canning East assembly seat.
Senior police officials, including Kolkata police commissioner Manoj Verma, rushed to the spot last night and the police have detained two persons for questioning.
“A man identified as Rajjak Khan was murdered between 9:30pm and 10pm on Thursday. The investigation is ongoing, so I can’t share further details at this moment,” Verma told reporters.
People aware of the development said that he was first shot at in a desolate place on the road when he was returning home. To ensure he died, the assailants later attacked him with sharp weapons.
“He was returning home from the local market area after attending a party meeting. He was first shot and then stabbed. I am not sure who the assailants were. It could be due to political rivalry,” Ishaque Khan, the victim’s brother, told media persons.
Sources said that Khan was murdered within a 1-km radius of the Bhangar police station. Locals said the assailants ambushed him in a dark, desolate stretch by hiding behind a bush.
“Khan was returning home when he was murdered. Goons backed by the ISF are behind this,” Mollah told the media.
Thursday’s murder once again triggered tensions in Bhangar, which had been on the edge a few times because of political and communal clashes, before it was brought under the control of Kolkata Police in 2024.
The incident has triggered a political slugfest in West Bengal where assembly elections are scheduled to be held in 2026. The TMC alleged that goons backed by the Indian Secular Front (ISF) were behind the murder.
“I condemn the killing of a man in Bhangar. I would request the state administration to find out the assailants and ensure that they get the strictest punishment as per law. None should be spared. We expect a fair investigation. We always want to see a violence-free Bhangar. Saokat Mollah is doing politics. We all know Mollah’s past records,” ISF MLA Nawsad Siddique told media persons.
Reacting to the development, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said, “Those who are getting killed are TMC’s men. Those who are killing are also from the TMC. There won’t be any significant change. There is nothing political in this. The TMC’s factions are sparring over the share of money.”
