Kolkata, Aug 24 (PTI) A search was underway for two more persons in connection with the murder of a local BJP leader in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, police said on Sunday.
Rajib Biswas, a BJP booth president in Baruipur, was thrashed by a group of people allegedly led by his father and brother on August 8, and set ablaze, they said.
The father and brother have been arrested, while a hunt was underway for two more persons.
While police said that the murder was the result of a family dispute, the BJP alleged it was a political killing as his father and brother were both TMC members.
The other two accused in the case are also TMC members, the BJP claimed.
Biswas was kicked, punched and beaten up with bamboo sticks and sharp weapons inside a house, before being set ablaze. Police said the house where the incident happened has been sealed.
BJP leader Sankudeb Panda said Biswas was murdered following a dispute over putting up BJP flags and hoardings of Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
He also shared a purported video of the incident, in which two people were seen thrashing a youth, who was screaming for help, while two others were standing nearby and watching.
PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Panda demanded an investigation by a central agency into the incident.
Local TMC Councillor Archana Mallick, however, claimed that none of those arrested belong to the ruling party.
“On August 9, some members of the family informed me about the condition of the youth. I asked them to immediately take him to the hospital, and later learnt he died. It was a case of family dispute. The BJP is trying to give it a political twist,” she claimed.
“We don’t believe in the politics of murder. Let those involved in such brutality be punished,” she added. PTI SUS SOM
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