Bengal cops deny shooting BJP worker amid conflicting claims over killer shotgun

BJP leaders named in the FIRs include national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, state president Dilip Ghosh, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national president Tejasvi Surya and the BJYM state president Saumitra Khan.

The West Bengal Police have charged top national and state leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the violence at the rally in north Bengal’s Siliguri town on Monday. At least two FIRs have been filed.

BJP activists staged a protest after a party worker died following clashes with police during a demonstration on Monday (PTI Photo)

A BJP worker, Ulen Roy, was killed with a shotgun during a pitched battle between BJP workers and policemen who stopped two processions from moving towards Uttar Kanya, the secretariat in north Bengal.

The state police said in a statement on Tuesday that Roy was killed with a shotgun that the police do not use and alleged that people in the rally were carrying firearms to incite violence.

On Wednesday, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and head of the party’s national information and technology cell, Amita Malviya, posted videos showing a policeman carrying a shotgun and said it nullified the state’s claim. However, the location of the recording of the video was not clear. The policeman was also not seen firing the weapon.

None of the senior police officers in Siliguri or Jalpaiguri talked to the media on the FIRs. Officers of the New Jalpaiguri police station, where the FIRs were lodged, were not ready to mention the sections of the IPC under which charges were filed. They only said that BJP leaders named in the FIRs include Vijayvargiya, state president Dilip Ghosh, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national president Tejasvi Surya the BJYM state president Saumitra Khan.

The FIRs also mentions thousands of BJP workers as accused but does not name them or specify any number, an officer said on condition of anonymity.

All seven BJP Lok Sabha members from north Bengal districts also figure in the FIRs.

Praveen Agarwal, BJP Siliguri district president, said, “Many leaders, whose names figure in the FIRs, were not even present at the two rallies.”