Days after three TMC leaders were hacked to death in Canning in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, it has come to light that the primary accused in the triple-murder case, Rafikul, is a worker of the Trinamool Congress.
The deceased were identified as Swapan Manjhi, Jhantu Halder and Bhootnath Pramanik. While speaking about the matter, the accused’s mother Ayesha Sardar said, “Both my son and husband are TMC workers. But they were not associated with Swapan Majhi. They belonged to another faction.”
The revelation comes at a time when the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal is trying to pin the blame for the gruesome murders on the Opposition. After Rafikul’s mother claimed that her son was part of the TMC, the party went into a defensive mode.
Local TMC leader Saikat Molla claimed, “There is no party worker by the name of Rafikul in Canning. Anti-social elements can’t be members of our party.”He further inquired, “If Rafikul was part of TMC, then why would he murder a fellow party leader?”
Similarly, TMC Minister Firhad Hakim accused Rafikul’s mother of lying and claimed, “Anyone can give such statements. It is the police to find out and the court will decide. The BJP is trying to introduce politics of murder in West Bengal just like Gujarat. We won’t allow that.”
The Background of the Case
On Thursday (July 7), TMC (Gopalpur) gram panchayat member Swapan Majhi was killed by a group of 6 people near Peer Park in Canning in South 24 Parganas district. Besides Majhi, two TMC workers, namely, Jhantu Halder and Bhootnath Pramanik were also murdered.
Reportedly, the assailants first hurled a crude bomb at the trio. Swapan Majhi was shot twice while Bhootnath Pramanik was shot only once. After the accused ran out of bullets, they hacked Jhantu Halder to death.
Then, they also tried to behead the three victims. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered by the Canning police on the basis of a complaint by Madhu, the elder brother of Swapan Majhi.
Six people, namely, Rafiqul Sardar, Basir Sheikh, Bapi Mondal, Ebayadullah Mondal, Ali Hosain Naskar and Jalaluddin Akhand were named as accused in the FIR. All of them have been on the run from law enforcement authorities.
The BJP has hit out at the ruling Trinamool Congress government and labelled the triple-murder case as a fallout of a factional feud within the party.
BJP leader Rahul Sinha remarked, “It is now clear that it was a factional feud of the TMC. The factions wanted to exercise their dominance and take control over the area ahead of the panchayat polls.”
