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Two arrested for BJP leader’s murder in Bengal, cops suspect old enmity
Police said Manish Shukla’s name had cropped up in the murder case of the father of one of the two men arrested on Tuesday.
Sleuths of the Criminal Investigation Department arrested two persons on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a BJP leader who was shot dead near Kolkata, police said.
The two have been identified as Md Khurram and Gulab Sheikh. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the BJP leader may have been killed because of some personal enmity and not because of any political reasons, a police officer said.
Manish Shukla, an outgoing civic body councillor in North 24 Parganas was shot dead on Sunday by four motorcycle-borne masked assailants at Titagarh around 20 km from Kolkata. The probe was later handed over to the CID even though state BJP leaders have been demanding a CBI investigation.
Police had found on Monday that several criminal cases were pending against Shukla. A few years ago, Khurram’s father was killed and the name of Shukla had cropped up in that case.
“A person was shot dead last evening in Titagarh area of Barrackpore. Police is investigating the crime and looking into all possible reasons including personal enmity because the victim was accused in some cases of murder and attempt of murder,” West Bengal Police had tweeted on Monday.
Shukla used to carry a pistol for personal safety till early this year but his arms licence was cancelled earlier this year.
While BJP leaders had alleged that TMC-backed goons had killed Shukla and they were hand-in-glove with the local police, TMC leaders refuted the allegations and hinted that BJP leaders could be behind the crime.
West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday stirred up a controversy by accusing the state police of trying to cover up the murder and called for an independent probe.
The TMC described Dhankhar’s statement as “irresponsible” and alleged that Shukla was involved in extortion and murders and was propped up by a BJP MP.
