Trinamul leader Nasim Ali of Nowda-Jadupur in Malda was found dead in a maize field under the ambit of Baishnabnagar police station on Friday morning.

Police suspect the 40-year-old was murdered. A probe has started.

Sources said that Ali and a friend bought meat together from a local market on Thursday night. At 10pm, Ali called up a family member to say he would return in half an hour.

“However, as he did not return even after another two hours, we started calling him up but found his cellphone switched off,” said Safiqul Haque, Ali’s brother-in-law.

On Friday morning, they came to know a body has been found at Elahitola village of Baishnabnagar police station.

“We went there and found it was him. We suspect he was murdered with sharp weapons,” Haque added.

“We hope the police find his killers. He was an active leader of Kaliachak in Malda,” said Abdur Rahim Boxi, the Malda district Trinamul chief.

MLA’s son thrashed

Kuntal Chandra Barma Basunia, the son of Trinamul’s Sitai (Cooch Behar) MLA Jagadish Barma Basunia, was allegedly stopped and beaten up by a group of people late on Thursday. They also took away his watch and phone.

The MLA filed a complaint with Dinhata police and blamed the BJP for the assault. Local BJP leaders denied the charges.