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‘Armed men in rally killed BJP worker’
”Police do not use shotguns. It’s obvious that during yesterday’s protest in Siliguri, armed persons were brought and they fired from firearms,” the police said in a tweet at around 10.30 am, terming the incident “unprecedented”.
West Bengal police said on Tuesday that a 50-year-old man who died during a pitched battle between the police and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Silguri had succumbed to injuries caused by shotguns that local law enforcement agencies do not use.
”Police do not use shotguns. It’s obvious that during yesterday’s protest in Siliguri, armed persons were brought and they fired from firearms,” the police said in a tweet at around 10.30 am, terming the incident “unprecedented”.
An autopsy was performed on Monday night on the man, Ulen Roy, who died in the clash between BJP activists and the police in north Bengal’s Siliguri earlier in the day. The BJP had alleged that he had been beaten to death by the police. The police used tear gas and water cannon to stop two BJP processions from moving towards Uttar Kanya, the secretariat building in north Bengal.
“The deceased received pellet injuries from a shotgun fired from close range by a person standing near the deceased in the protest program. This is unprecedented. Bringing armed persons in protest programs and inciting them to fire is unheard of,” said the state police.
“There was a malafide intention to create violence by the use of firearms. CID {Criminal Investigation Department} West Bengal has been asked to investigate. Truth will come out and strong action will be taken against all those who planned and executed the heinous crime,” the police said in a third tweet.
The BJP refused to accept the statement of the police and demanded a probe by the Criminal Bureau of investigation (CBI). The party also demanded a second autopsy and moved the court of the chief judicial magistrate in Jalpaiguri, which allowed it and said the autopsy has to be done by November 11.
“The first autopsy report confirmed our allegation that the police used firearms and Roy was shot by them. The allegation being made against us is ridiculous because Rai was shot in the chest while approaching the police barricades. Had someone in the procession shot him, the injuries would have been found on his back,” said BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu, who is stationed in Siliguri.
“We will not stop till the truth is revealed. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government has come down to killing our workers because the ruling party knows that its days are numbered,” said Basu, referring to assembly polls due in about five months. The BJP won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats in the north Bengal region in 2019.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee defended the state police while addressing an administrative meeting at Ranigunj in West Burdwan district on Tuesday afternoon. “BJP is killing its own people with pellets and blaming the police. Police do not use these (shotguns). The media should not encourage this,” she said.
State panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee alleged that BJP workers were carrying several shotguns. “One of these killed the man. He was carrying a shotgun too. The police never lost patience. They only chased away the troublemakers. The CID will find out the truth,” he said.
