Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Ulen Roy, who died of gunshot injuries under mysterious circumstances during a pitched battle between his fellow workers and the police at Siliguri town in north Bengal on Monday, might have lived had he listened to his wife.
As the BJP demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and dismissed claims by the state police that Roy was shot by someone in the rally, his family said that he went to attend the event ignoring requests from his wife.
A resident of Main Ghora village in the Bhaktinagar police station area of Jalpaiguri district, Roy left home early on Monday morning to participate in the BJP rally, the purpose of which was to march to Uttar Kanya, the state secretariat in north Bengal, in protest against policies of the government.
Roy’s wife, Malati, wanted him to take their daughter to a local school in Jalpaiguri for admission in class 5. Roy, the only bread earner in the family, did not listen to her. As the family waited for his return, the news of his death arrived. The couple has two teenage sons as well.
Also read: No midway, just ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from Amit Shah at today’s meeting, says farmers’ leader
{{/usCountry}}Also read: No midway, just ‘yes’ or ‘no’ from Amit Shah at today’s meeting, says farmers’ leader
{{/usCountry}}“I asked my husband not to go to the rally as it was more important to get Chintamani, our daughter, admitted in class 5 at Lalitabari High School. He said he would be back by 3 pm. Our life has been shattered,” said Malati Roy. “We are BJP supporters, like many more in this village” she added.
Roy’s elder son Buddhadeb is in class 9 and the younger one, Sagar, is a student of class 6. Roy’s father, who is now 90, had once contested the local gram panchayat election for the Congress.
The family lives in a wooden house in Baikantapur forest and elephants regularly raid the village. The family owns a small tea garden spread over three bighas of land. Ulen Roy used to work as a daily wage labourer as well to sustain the family.
Atul Singha, a resident, said, “The BJP is rapidly expanding its base in this area. In the 2018 gram panchayat polls, the BJP candidate lost by a margin of only 11 votes.”
On Monday, the BJP workers clashed with police when they were stopped on their way. As tear gas and water cannons were used to disperse the crowd, Roy collapsed.
On Tuesday, four BJP Lok Sabha MPs visited the bereaved family and assured that they will bear the expense of the education of the three children.
The MPs, Raju Bista from Darjeeling, Nisith Pramanik from Cooch Behar, Sukanta Majumdar from Jalpaiguri and Jayanta Kumar Roy from Jalpaiguri, also demanded a CBI probe into the death.
Tapan Roy, a local BJP leader and member of local Sikharpur gram panchayat, alleged that two BJP supporters from the village were picked up by the police who asked them to sign on a piece of paper before the post-mortem examination was conducted. “The Police wanted to hand over the body to them at 2 am. They managed to flee,” said Roy.
The BJP moved the local court demanding a second post mortem examination. The court granted permission on Tuesday evening.
Dr Kausik Samajdar, superintendent of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital said, “The post mortem was conducted as per the district administration’s order. The body is kept at the morgue. The postmodern can be conducted for the second time once the magisterial order comes.”