Two newly elected councilors – ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) councilor from North 24 Parganas’s Naihati Anupam Dutta and Congress’s Tapas Kundu from Jhalda Municipality in Puruliya district – were shot dead in separate incidents in West Bengal on Sunday. With two such incidents in open markets, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised questions on the law and order in the state.
The TMC swept the recent West Bengal civic polls, winning 104 of the 108 municipalities.
Anupam Dutta was shot at point blank range when he was surveying a park near his residence. Local TMC leader Partha Bhowmick said: “He was killed because he defeated a big BJP leader.”
Dutta’s relative blamed the opposition for the death. Firhad Hakim, urban development minister, said, “The councilor wanted to stop bad work, which is why somebody got him out of the way.” Police have arrested one man in the case.
Kundu had stepped out to get food when the firing took place. Congress president Adhir Choudhury met Kundu’s family. Choudhury said, “The Jhalda municipality result was hung and we were asking for help from independent candidates. Was this his mistake? His wife has said that the TMC, through police, was putting pressure on them to join the TMC.”
Congress supporters pelted stones in Jhalda thana, while the administration has ordered strict action against the culprits.
Sukanto Majumdar, BJP president, said, “Such incidents were earlier witnessed in the 1970s under the Congress rule.” Suvendu Adhikary, leader of opposition, said, “Nobody is safe in Bengal. If this is the situation of a public representative, what will happen to common man?”
The Congress has called for a 12-hour bandh in Jhalda in protest. Blaming the TMC and police for the shootout, the BJP walked out of the assembly.
This is the second time that the opposition has blamed the police in a murder case. Recently, there were accusations of police involvement in the death of student leader Anish Khan.
The TMC, meanwhile, called the Puruliya incident “unfortunate”, while the Naihati killing as “BJP’s deed”.
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