BJP Leader Murdered In Chhattisgarh’s Insurgency-Hit Narayanpur District, Naxal Involvement Suspected

When asked about Naxal participation, the IG stated that a team has been deployed to the spot and that anything related to this will be evident after the investigation.

BJP Leader Ratan Dubey.

Source : X

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ratan Dubey was murdered on Saturday in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, according to Bastar Range IG Sundarraj P, news agency ANI reported. When asked about Naxal participation, the IG stated that a team has been deployed to the spot and that anything related to this will be evident after the investigation.

Chhattisgarh | A BJP leader (Ratan Dubey) was murdered today in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, said Bastar Range IG Sundarraj P.

On being asked about Naxal involvement, the IG said that a team has been dispatched to the location and anything in this…

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) November 4, 2023

Ratan Dubey, the BJP's Narayanpur district unit vice president and the area's Assembly convenor, was slashed to death at the Kaushalnagar village market while campaigning for Assembly elections, PTI reported.

According to an eyewitness, as Dubey was addressing a throng, two individuals emerged from the crowd and hit him on the head from behind. “Dubey ran towards his car and tried to get inside but a few more persons surrounded him and attacked him with sharp edged weapons leading to his death on the spot. The incident led to chaos. BJP workers later rushed to the police station located around 5 kilometres away from the site,” he was quoted by PTI in its report.

According to Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Pushkar Sharma, enough protection is provided throughout the election campaign, but no information regarding Dubey's visit was supplied to the police.

Condemning the incident, BJP leader Om Mathur on X said: "I am deeply saddened by the brutal murder of Chhattisgarh BJP's Narayanpur Assembly convenor and Narayanpur district vice president Ratan Dubey ji by Naxalites during the campaign. The entire party condemns this cowardly incident."

कार्यकर्ता डरेगा नही मुकाबला करेगा, और सफलता प्राप्त करेगा |@BJP4India @AmitShah@PMOIndia@BJP4CGState pic.twitter.com/xDBj6AvZEb

— Om Prakash (Om Ji ) Mathur (@OmMathur_bjp) November 4, 2023

Mathur described the event as a "targeted killing," adding that Naxalites are conducting such atrocities because they are afraid of being removed if the BJP takes control in the state.

“All BJP workers are with Dubey’s family. We will eliminate Naxalism,” he added.

Narayanpur is one of the 20 Assembly seats up for election on November 7. The second round of voting for the 90-member House will take place on November 17, with results expected on December 3.

Earlier in October, unidentified individuals shot and killed a BJP worker in a rural area of the insurgency-hit Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki district near Rajnandgaon.

Birju Taram, 53, was strolling outside his home when two or three persons on a bike approached him and started fire, killing him on the spot, according to police.

A local BJP leader was assassinated by suspected Naxalites in Bijapur district in June this year, while three local BJP activists were murdered in similar circumstances in Bastar division in February this year—one in Bijapur and two in nearby Narayanpur district. 

The BJP has previously expressed concern and urged a high-level investigation into the deaths of three BJP activists in Bijapur and Narayanpur districts in a series of events.