Violence continues in Bengal, BJP worker hacked to death

Sushil Mondal, 52, was hacked to death in Pandugram village in Ketugram area, about 159 km from Kolkata, allegedly by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters as he was raising Jai Shri Ram slogans.

Post-poll violence continued in Bengal on Thursday with a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter being killed in a village in East Burdwan district, police said.

Mondal’s is the fifth life lost in violence in Bengal since the Lok Sabha election results were declared on May 23. (Representative image)

Sushil Mondal, 52, was hacked to death in Pandugram village in Ketugram area, about 159 km from Kolkata, allegedly by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters as he was raising Jai Shri Ram slogans. Though the area is a part of East Burdwan district, it is under Bolpur parliamentary constituency won by the Trinamool. Abu Salim, the inspector in charge of Ketugram police station, said, “We have received a complaint that named two persons. The accused are on the run. We are investigating the matter, including whether it was a political murder,” he said.

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, “It’s nothing new in Bengal. Chanting the name of Ram is treated as a crime here. Those who are committing these crimes will get appropriate answers in due time.”

Anil Datta, a BJP East Burdwan district committee member, claimed that TMC men had attacked party supporters in the village. “Sushil Mondal was attacked when he was chanting Jai Shri Ram and placing our party flags,” he alleged. Trinamool leader Swapan Debnath, however, denied any political angle in the killing. “I have heard that the murder took place due to personal disputes. The BJP has started dirty politics by laying the blame at our door,” he alleged. Mondal’s is the fifth life lost in violence in Bengal since the Lok Sabha election results were declared on May 23. On Wednesday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had remarked that no one had been killed in political violence in the state.