Kolkata:A former TMC Gram Panchayat member was killed at Mahishadal in East Midnapore on Friday night. Former member of Betkundu Gram Panchayat Sheikh Moibul was attacked on his way home after he dropped his party worker on his motorcycle.
Moibul was first beaten first with a sharp weapon and therafter hsi body was thrown into the pond, sources said. Trinamool Congress pointed its fingers at the BJP for Moibul's death. The BJP, however, denied the allegation.
The police, however, remained tightlipped over the involvement of any political party workers in the killing. According to Trinamool Congress, BJP-backed miscreants blocked his way and attacked him.
As Moibul did not return home, a search began to know his whareabouts. Later, party workers rescued Moibul. who was in a pool of blood, from the pond. Moibul was first taken to Block Health Center in Mahishadal and then sfifted to Tamluk's Tamralipta Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
While Trinamool Congress has blamed BJP activists for the murder, the latter has claimed that internal rivalry in the ruling party was the main reason behind the tragedy.
Sporadic violence
Stray incidences of poll-related tension have started surfacing mainly from the East Midnapore district since the first hours of the polls. Reports of clashes between BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters also surfaced from Moyna, also under the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency.Tension erupted at Haldia under Tamluk, as the BJP candidate from that constituency and the former judge of Calcutta High Court Abhijit Gangopadhyay reached a polling booth there.
Trinamool Congress supporters blocked his way and started shouting slogans, following which there was a heated exchange of words between the Trinamool Congress and BJP workers. However, the situation could not flare up because of the timely intervention of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel.At Ghatal Lok Sabha constituency in West Midnapore district, the BJP candidate and the actor-turned-politician Hiran Chatterjee actively moved from one polling booth to another boosting the confidence of the polling agents and party workers. At a place, he was seen picking up one of his booth agents from the latter’s residence and escorting him up to the polling booth.
Tension spread in the area following the kiiling and the police started an investigation into the matter. A dead body with multiple wound marks was recovered in Jhargram district. It is not, however, clear if the deceased belongs to any political party.
