BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Monday, 4 June, said the party would move the Calcutta High Court, and if needed the Supreme Court, to unearth the truth behind the deaths of two party workers in Purulia district in West Bengal, reported PTI.
"We will soon move the High Court, and the Supreme Court if needed, to know the truth behind the murders of two party workers in Purulia district," he told PTI.
The body of another BJP worker was found hanging from an electric tower in the Purulia district of West Bengal, on Saturday, 2 June, two days after a 20-year-old BJP Yuva Mocha member was found murdered on 30 May.
Dulal Kumar, 32, from Balrampur had been missing since Friday, 1 June.
The BJP leader alleged the two were murdered because of instigation by senior Trinamool Congress leaders. The TMC leaders had denied any involvement of the party in the two deaths. Additionally, the police on 3 June had confirmed that Kumar had committed suicide.
Purulia Superintendent of Police (SP) Akash Magharia said a team of five doctors conducted the post-mortem of Kumar's body.
The post-mortem report said it was a case of asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging and suicidal in nature.Purulia Superintendent of Police (SP) Akash Magharia
Kumar's body was found hanging from a power transmission tower near the fields in Dava village under Balarampur police station on 2 June morning.
An unsigned, handwritten note found near Mahato's body stated that he was "punished for working for the BJP" during the recent rural polls in the state. However, no such note was found in Kumar's case, former SP Biswas had said on 2 June.
Kumar's death had outraged the locals, who protested outside the Balarampur police station on Saturday, 2 June.
Police resorted to lathicharge when BJP supporters refused to let go of the body and demanded the removal of the officer-in-charge at Balrampur police station. Some BJP supporters also pelted stones, injuring a few policemen.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal replaced Joy Biswas as the SP of the district and appointed Magharia in his place, following the two back-to-back incidents.
TMC-BJP Engage in Blame Game
The alleged killings have triggered another round of face-off between the TMC and the BJP, which has emerged as a formidable challenger to the ruling party in the state after last month's panchayat polls.
In its official Twitter handle, the BJP’s West Bengal-wing alleged that TMC goons had worked at the behest of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee to make Purulia “Opposition-free”. Banerjee who is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently vowed to make Purulia free of the Opposition in a rally held on Tuesday, 29 May.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had also attacked the TMC government over the two deaths, saying, "This is inhuman and the worst kind of crime. We condemn the brutal political murders. The people of West Bengal will definitely teach a lesson to those behind the incidents... 19 BJP workers have been killed so far (since the panchayat polls). The latest victims are Dulal and Trilochon Mahato," he had added.
TMC Secretary-General Partha Chatterjee, however, alleged that the Bajrang Dal had a role in the killings. On the other hand BJP District President Vivekanand Chakraborty held Abhishek Banerjee and TMC responsible for the BJP worker’s death.
BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya told The Asian Age that Dulal’s alleged murder was similar to that of Trilochan Mahato who was found murdered two days back in the same district. Quoting the ADG Law and Order Vijayvargiya also said that Dulal was facing life threats.
After Kumar's body was found, TMC Rajya Sabha member Derek O' Brien on 2 June condemned the killings in a tweet and demanded a detailed probe into the incidents. He, however, did not rule out the involvement of the BJP, the Bajrang Dal or Maoists in the incidents.
The West Bengal government has ordered a CID probe into Mahato's killing.
In Purulia, the BJP gave a tough fight to the ruling TMC in the panchayat polls and won 645 seats as against the latter's 839. Of the 38 zilla parishad seats, the TMC bagged 26 and the BJP nine.
BJP Workers Call For Bandh
Meanwhile, BJP supporters put up road blockades and prevented goods vehicles from plying on national highways at different places in the district.
The administration, however, dubbed it as a "normal Sunday" when schools, colleges, banks and government offices remained closed.
Balarampur, where the two incidents have occurred, wore a deserted look as the locals largely stayed indoors. The scene was similar in other parts of the district, where public and private vehicles stayed off the roads, and shops and markets remained closed.
The bandh began at 6 am.
"This is absolutely a normal Sunday. Schools, colleges, banks and other government offices are closed as other Sundays. That is why it is appearing to be like a bandh. Buses and other vehicles are plying like any other weekend. No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in the district. There is no bandh here," Purulia District Magistrate (DM) Alokesh Prasad Roy told PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
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