A Trinamool Congress Leader from Ashoknagar was allegedly shot dead by a group of men in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Monday. The 49-year-old TMC leader identified as Bijan Das was allegedly killed following an altercation with the men over a land deal. According to a police official, Bijan was visiting the house of a party colleague when the incident occurred. The accused men are reportedly absconding.
Bijan Das, the deputy head of Guma 1 panchayat was shot twice from point-blank range by the accused men after which one bullet hit his head and the other pierced through his left ear, the police officer added.
The police officer also stated that Bijan was taken to the Barasat Medical College Hospital and was declared 'brought dead,' PTI reported.
Barasat MP Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, who visited the hospital, remarked that it was a tragic incident. "Bijan's death is an irreparable loss to the party. He started his political career from student politics and has been with the party since then. The police are investigating the case,” Ghosh stated.
"We are investigating the matter," the police officer told PTI.
The killing was allegedly the result of a fallout of a party infighting following which angry locals vandalised the house of Goutam Das, who has been accused of Bijan's murder, Indian Express reported.
In another similar incident, two people including TMC leader Saifuddin Lashkar were shot dead by a group of assailants in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas in November 2023.
Saifuddin was a panchayat member and his wife was the panchayat head in Joynagar. He was intercepted by unidentified attackers in front of his house who shot him dead on the spot. The villagers were alerted by the gunfire and chased the attackers to catch them. While others managed to flee, one of them was caught by the villagers and beaten to death.