A local BJP leader and close aide of BJP MP Arjun Singh, Manish Sukla, was gunned down by unidentified assailants in front of the party office in Purani Bazar area of Titagarh in North 24-Parganas on Sunday night.
Sukla, known as the “right hand” of the Barrackpore MP who had defected from Trinamul last year, was shot at while speaking to party workers around 9pm. Rushed to the BN Bose Hospital in Barrackpore in a critical state, Sukla was transferred to a private hospital on EM Bypass where he was declared dead on arrival.
A resident of Khardah’s Adarsha Pally area, Sukla was a lawyer by profession.
The BJP has called a 12-hour Barrackpore bandh on Monday to condemn Sukla’s murder, and blamed Trinamul for it. Trinamul blamed the murder on “BJP’s internal bickering”.
MP Arjun Singh was unequivocal about accusing Trinamul: “Manish (Sukla) was very popular among youths. Trinamul was afraid of his popularity and eliminated him in a planned manner.”
Trinamul’s North 24-Parganas chairman Nirmal Ghosh rubbished the allegation. “Internal bickering of the BJP is behind the murder,” he said.
BJP sources said four assailants on two motorcycles arrived near the party office in Purani Bazar when two of them fired at least five rounds at Sukla from close range. Four hit his chest and head.
As news of the murder spread, BJP supporters went on rampage at many places in Titagarh, Barrackpore and nearby areas, ransacked vehicles and blocked the BT Road. A large police force was deployed at many places in the industrial belt. Barrackpore police commissioner Manoj Verma alerted the police stations under the commissionerate.
