West Bengal: BJP worker murdered in Hooghly, party accuses TMC

A BJP worker was allegedly murdered on Sunday in Arambagh town of Hooghly district in West Bengal.

Kashinath Ghosh, aged 45, a booth president of BJP from a local area was found dead with his body floating in a nearby pond.

The BJP worker played an active role in the recently concluded 2019 Lok Sabha elections by ensuring BJP garners victory from this booth.

However, Trinamool Congress (TMC) managed to win in the final tally in the Arambagh Lok Sabha constituency.

It were the locals who informed about the incident to Goghat police.

After examination, police confirmed that there was a major injury on the victim's head. It appears that the assassins had planned to hit his head, police added.

Sources said BJP had earlier alleged that Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress cadres had been threatening them from the past few days over the loss in the booth level, which allegedly might have been the reason for the BJP worker's murder.

Biman Ghosh, a BJP supporter from West Bengal, alleged that the BJP worker was killed by TMC cadres.

"Last night our booth president Kashinath Ghosh was brutally murdered by a few TMC party hooligans who killed him. We are now taking the dead body for autopsy and we want the assailants to be punished," said Biman Ghosh.

There have been several allegations in the same case against TMC local leaders.

Bonshidhar, a local resident said, "We are accusing the TMC people as they have only killed Kashinath and no one else could kill him. We got to know about this incident today in the morning after Kashinath's body was recovered from a nearby pond.

"The police came but they didn't ask anyone anything and just wanted to take the body away, but we aren't giving them the body. When our leaders would come, then only we will let the police take the body," the local resident further said.

However, the allegations have been denied by the TMC.

"BJP is trying to do politics on Kashinath Ghosh's death. TMC does not believe in violence and none of its members are involved in such activities. All inquiries would take place through a proper process, including autopsy which would clarify all the details," Dilip Yadav, the district president of TMC clarified.

The local villagers have demanded stringent punishment against the assassins.