“My husband and son were not a part of any political party. They died in a conflict after an accident. It was not a political murder.”
That’s what a trembling Phulbori Devi, wife of 52-year-old Lalmohan Mohato and mother to his 27-year old son Deepak Mahato, said to The Quint at their home in West Bengal’s Purulia district.
Lalmohan and Deepak were hacked to death on 11 July near Purulia’s Turuhulu village, where they lived. Within hours of their death, the BJP Twitter handles were abuzz claiming that both were “OBC BJP workers” who were killed by the ruling Trinamool Congress.
What Really Happened?
According to a press release issued by the BJP on 12 July, Lalmohan and Deepak were murdered by the TMC because they had “protested against TMC’s alleged corruption in the distribution of Miniket rice in their panchayat.”
Take a look at this tweet by West Bengal’s BJP President Dilip Ghosh.
The family, however, claims that the two died in an altercation with another party after they got into an accident. They had never heard of a protest as described in Ghosh’s tweet.
The two ran a small transport business that supported their entire family of seven. They transported materials needed to build pandals.
On 11 July, claims the family, Lalmohan and Deepak were on their way back from Purulia town with a shipment of chairs for a nearby programme.
On the way, the family says, their small lorry got into an accident with another vehicle which was pushed into a ditch by the road. Those in the vehicle – four in total – came out and hacked the father-son duo to death.
“The Trinamool is not involved in this. They were random people whom we don’t know,” said Phulbori.
Living In Fear
The Mahatos live in a remote village connected by 4 kms of muddy, unmotorable roads to the nearest Kenda block of Purulia, mostly populated by STs and OBCs.
The women of the household wear their sarees without blouses, they’ve never seen or owned a TV, and don’t read newspapers because everybody in the family is illiterate. When this reporter approached the family, she was met with extreme suspicion.
Clearly, they didn’t know how news worked because no one from the media had ever come to them. They didn’t want to be recorded, didn’t want to come on camera and didn’t want to be photographed.
When I repeatedly asked them why they were so skeptical, one of the family members said that there were “people above them” who’d be unhappy.
And that’s all they had to say. The family says that they’ve not even gone to the police to register a complaint.
“What has happened has happened. We don’t care if people think it’s a political death. We are not getting into this anymore,” said Deepak’s brother.
I do not know his name because I could only coerce the women to give out their names. The others offered me tea, but wouldn’t tell me their names.
Is the BJP Appropriating Deaths?
Since the Panchayat polls, the BJP claims that four of their workers have been killed by the Trinamool in Purulia district alone. If their statistics are to be believed, these deaths took place within a span of two months. It started with the death of 18-year-old Trilochan Mahato on 30 May, closely followed by the death of Dulal Kumar. Both these families hold the TMC responsible.
However, was the BJP just playing a political card when they claimed the deceased Lalmohan and Deepak as theirs?
Sample what Union Minister Babul Supriyo tweeted:
However, the family categorically claims that the two had never worked for the BJP. Or any political party, for that matter.
It is true that they voted for the BJP. But they never did anything more. In villages, everybody votes, everybody is political. But they were not political enough to be murdered. The Trinamool has no role in this.Deepak Mahato’s sister to The Quint
If the family denies any political involvement, on what basis is the BJP claiming so? And if this were true, why is it that no minister or leader from the party has visited the family yet?
The Quint has reached out to the Bengal BJP for a response. The story will be updated when they choose to respond.
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