A BJP worker was beaten to death at village in Tufanganj subdivision of Cooch Behar by residents on Wednesday morning when he tried to stop warring members of two local clubs.
BJP leaders, including senior ones such as Kailash Vijayvargiya and Sayantan Basu, alleged that Kalachand Karmakar, 50, had been murdered by Trinamul backed criminals.
The party announced a 12 hour strike in Tufanganj subdivision on Thursday in protest.
Karmakar, a BJP booth committee president at Sikarpur village under Nakkatigach panchayat of the subdivision, was critically injured after being beaten up with fists and sticks. Rushed to the Tufanganj subdivisional hospital, doctors pronounced him dead.
Sources said Karmakar was caught amid a heated exchange between members of two rival clubs with two Kali Puja pandals. On Wednesday, some members of both clubs were arguing when Biplab Karmakar, a neighbour of the BJP worker, was attacked. Karmakar rushed out to intervene and was attacked. As he collapsed on the spot, his attackers fled.
The news sparked tension in the area with hundreds of BJP supporters accusing Trinamul of orchestrating the attack. A police team led by Rahul Talukdar, Tufanganj police station OC, brought the situation under control.
Malati Rava, the BJP chief of Cooch Behar district, said: “A group of criminals backed by Trinamul brutally murdered Kalachand Karmakar.” She accused the police of “acting in a biased manner”.
Jalil Ahmed, a district Trinamul leader, called the incident “unfortunate” but added: “It has no connection to our party. The BJP is unnecessarily trying to politicise the issue.”
K. Kannan, the Cooch Behar district chief, said they had detained a person in connection with the case and were searching for others.
“The incident occurred when the victim tried to stop the members of two clubs who had got into an altercation. Karmakar was attacked and later pronounced dead. We have detained a person in connection with the incident and are in search of some others,” said Kannan, the district superintendent of police.
