BJP protests after youth wing leader shot dead in Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur

Mithun Ghosh, the district vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), succumbed shortly after being shot on Sunday. The BJP has accused the ruling TMC of being behind the killing.

The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at 6am on Tuesday, began an eight-hour-long general strike in Uttar Dinajpur after Mithun Ghosh, the district vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the party's youth wing, was fatally shot on Sunday. Ghosh was killed by “criminals” backed by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), the BJP has alleged.

File photo of a BJP rally (Used only for representation)

“Mithun Ghosh, Uttar Dinajpur district VP of BJYM has been shot dead by assailants at Itahar. This has the TMC's handiwork written all over it. The bloodthirsty antisocial hounds who executed their master's orders would be taken to task when the tide turns. We won't forget Mithun Ghosh,” Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly tweeted on Monday.

Ghosh' mother and sister, too, have alleged that the TMC had a hand in his death. “My son's life was in danger as he had many enemies. He was being threatened by local workers of the ruling party,” his mother said. His sister, meanwhile, said, “Local TMC leaders had been threatening my brother for a long time. They wanted him to leave the BJP.”

However, dismissing the allegations, the TMC said that Ghosh was killed due to inner clashes within the opposition party itself. “We don't know what exactly happened, but the police are investigating. By accusing us, the BJP is trying to avoid their own internal issues,” senior leader and party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

The police have arrested Santosh Mahato, an acquaintance of Ghosh. They are on the lookout for Sukumar Ghosh, another acquaintance of the victim.

(With inputs from ANI)