Bodies of BJP, RSS workers found hanging from trees in Howrah

Kolkata: The bodies of a BJP and an RSS worker found hanging from trees in Howrah’s Amta ratcheted up further the spiralling violence in West Bengal and the escalating political blame game.
Residents of Sarpota village in Amta raised an alarm on Monday afternoon when they saw BJP activist Samatul Dolui’s body hanging from a tree near a field, recalling events in Purulia in the run-up to the 2018 panchayat polls when bodies of BJP workers were found hanging from poles.Unlike in Purulia, Dolui’s body had no posters attached.
His family members and BJP leaders in Howrah pointed a finger at Trinamool. “Dolui was an active BJP activist and gave the party a lead from his booth in Lok Sabha polls. He was receiving death threats soon after he started taking out ‘Jai Sri Ram’ rallies in the locality. Trinamool-backed anti-socials ransacked his house immediately after the polls,” said BJP’s Howrah (rural) president Anupam Mullick.
When some miscreants tried to snatch Dolui’s body while it was being taken for post-mortem, villagers protested, prompting the administration to deploy RAF.
A day earlier, on Sunday afternoon, an RSS veteran, Swadesh Manna, too was found dead in similar fashion hanging from a tree in Atchata village. Manna had been taking out ‘Jai Sri Ram’ rallies for the past few days. “In both cases, Trinamool supporters have killed our party workers,” Mullick alleged.
Trinamool MLA Pulak Roy denied his partymen’s involvement. “BJP is trying to shame us. But none of our workers is linked to it. People will give them a befitting reply,” he said.
In Sodepur, suspected members of Trinamool’s trade union wing Inttuc beat up two disgruntled securitymen Rakesh Das (38) and Sujit Biswas (40) with iron rods when they tried to float a BJP-affiliated union. The seriously injured duo was rushed to Sagar Dutta Hospital.
The incidents further escalated the angst of BJP workers who hit the streets to protest against the Sandeshkhali killings in North 24 Parganas only two days ago. They blocked tracks at Bhyabla station on the Sealdah-Basirhat section as part of a 12-hour bandh called by BJP in Basirhat and Taldi in South 24 Parganas. Others blocked Basanti Highway near Nimcha in Basirhat and roads in Purulia. Itinda Road was blocked several times.
In Midnapore’s Keshiary, BJP workers led by state unit president Dilip Ghosh broke the law after the district administration stalled the formation of panchayat board citing the Sandeshkhali tension. “It is only a bid to stop us from forming the board when we have a majority. The administration can’t delay the formation indefinitely. We will form the board. Trinamool marauders are shooting our men in daylight. But people are with us,” he said.
Later, in Kolkata, BJP leader Mukul Roy responded to the chief minister’s comment that BJP leaders were claiming five had been killed in Sandeshkhali when actually only two were dead. “Two were killed in Sandeshkhali and three went missing. We fear the three have been killed. The CM has asked for their whereabouts. I will furnish their names and address. The CM has to find them or step down as state home minister,” Roy said.
Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee claimed a grave conspiracy by BJP in their workers targeting Trinamool activists and police. “Their purpose is to make a case for the imposition of President’s Rule in Bengal. Trinamool workers have been killed, their houses ransacked but nobody is paying heed to that,” he said, citing his party workers’ murders in Cooch Behar and Hooghly in post-poll violence, among other instances.