BJP leaders protest, attack ruling TMC

The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders staged a sit-in on Saturday to protest against the alleged killing of its workers in the state.

Attacking the ruling Trinamool Congress government, state unit BJP president Dilip Ghosh said: “The identities of the victims — race or religion — is not important. Law and order have collapsed in the state. A mother could not give birth to her child. We would continue to agitate till this government is thrown into the Ganges.”

On October 8, primary school teacher Prakash Pal (35), his pregnant wife Beauty Pal (28) and their son Angan (6) were killed with sharp weapons inside their house in Jiaganj-Azimganj municipality. Soon after the murder, Ghosh claimed that Pal was an associate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, but the teacher’s relatives rejected the claim.

Rejecting the BJP’s accusations, TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said: “The state administration has detained two persons. They are not aware of it. The state has formed a special investigation team. The investigation is progressing gradually. This (what the BJP is doing) is just drama necessitated by the fact that they are not getting the foothold in the state they are seeking.”

The West Bengal police detained two persons on Saturday in connection with the murders, taking the number of detainees in the case to four.

A team of CID officials visited the crime spot on Saturday, a day after the investigating agency was asked to join the investigation, the police said.

BJP WORKER SHOT DEAD

Haralal Debnath, a grocer, was gunned down at Habibpur late on Friday. “Debnath was an old supporter of our party. He even worked for us during the Lok Sabha polls. Trinamool Congress-backed toughs killed him,” said Manabendra Roy, president of Nadia district.