A BJP booth president in Sabang in West Midnapore was found hanging at home on Thursday, prompting the saffron camp to claim that the deceased, Dipak Samanta, was murdered by Trinamul to terrorise voters ahead of the July 8 rural polls.

“The body of one of our booth presidents in Sabang has been recovered today (Thursday). If the Trinamul Congress thinks that they will play with blood, then the BJP will also have to play the same cards. They should not then blame the BJP for law and order,” said state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar.

Bereaved family members said Samanta was missing since Thursday morning and searches for him went in vain. When they returned home, they found him hanging from the ceiling.

Samanta's family accused local Trinamul leader Malik Maiti and his followers of orchestrating the murder.

Trinamul, however, denied the allegations.

“These allegations are baseless. It's a matter of a family feud. The body was recovered at home. The BJP is simply playing dirty politics with his death,” said Trinamul’s Sabang MLA Manas Ranjan Bhuniya.

Police said the body was sent for post-mortem and a probe was on.

Forged papers

The State Election Commission on Thursday cancelled the nomination papers of Moharuddin Gazi, a Trinamul candidate from Kumarjol in North 24-Parganas' Minakhan.

Gazi left for Saudi Arabia before the panchayat polls were announced. His nomination was filed by his proposer. However, the commission, on making inquiries, found that the documents were forged.

The CPM had earlier filed a case in Calcutta High Court in this matter.