Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the dead body of a BJP worker, with his hands tied, was discovered in a paddy field near his residence on Saturday (23rd March) morning.
The incident took place in Pingla village in Kharagpur subdivision in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. As per reports, the deceased was identified as Shantanu Ghorai. His father has accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party of orchestrating the murder.
While speaking about the matter to ABP Ananda, Shantanu’s father Chittaranjan remarked, “They were angry at him. He used to speak the truth openly. He had to give his life for being involved with the BJP.
Since the election has been announced, Shri Shantanu Ghorai, the organizer of booth number 82 in Pingla Vidhan Sabha constituency, was found dead yesterday night, allegedly murdered and dumped in a paddy field." Shame On TMC #NoVoteToTMC #NoVoteToMamata pic.twitter.com/17SwXmviQL
— 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚 भारतीय 🇮🇳 (Modi Ka Parivar) (@NarendraVictory) March 24, 2024
He added that the TMC had previously intimidated Shantanu for speaking against TMC and supporting the BJP. The victim’s father continued, “They used to threaten the boy if they ran into him in the market or neighbourhood. They used to warn him about breaking his bones and killing him alive.”
“Shantanu used to put up flags of BJP before elections,” he added. On being asked whether the victim had been deliberately attacked before elections, Chittaranjan said ‘yes.’
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari condemned the incident and said that party leaders have been protesting in Pingla village to seek justice for the victim.
Even though Shantanu’s hands were tied, a Trinamool Congress leader alleged that the BJP worker died due to intoxication.
“The death is unfortunate but we did not know that the BJP would need so many dead bodies before elections,” he claimed suggesting an internal conspiracy by the BJP to kill its own workers and blaming it on the ruling party.
In a video that has now surfaced on social media, BJP MLA Hiraan Chatterjee was seen saying that the local police refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) in connection to the case.
In West Bengal, human dignity, human rights, indeed, human lives, have come to mean nothing. Fear of #TMC retribution is all pervasive.pic.twitter.com/za1s4bxx5n
— Kanchan Gupta (Hindu Bengali Refugee)🇮🇳 (@KanchanGupta) March 24, 2024
This video shows @WBPolice refusing to register FIR after a BJP worker was brutally murdered — his body was found with…
“The family of the victim is here… His maternal uncle and brother are here but the police officer is not registering an FIR. This is the state of Mamata’s police force. He has made us sit here for 9 hours but has not lodged an FIR for murder as of yet,” Hiraan Chatterjee informed.
OpIndia had previously reported about 5 incidents of attacks on BJP workers, mostly by goons associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress party.
