A local Trinamool Congress leader was gunned down on the outskirts of Naihati on Wednesday, a day Assembly bypolls were held in six constituencies in Bengal.

This apart, some sporadic incidents of violence and poll process vitiations gave the Opposition an opportunity to attack the ruling dispensation of intimation and attacks to “rig” the polls.

Ashok Shaw, the 37-year-old former chief of Trinamool’s Ward 12 unit in Bhatpara, was shot to death on Thursday morning. On his way to the market, Ashok was ambushed by three unidentified assailants near a roadside tea stall on the busy Ghosh Para Road, barely 50 metres from the Jagatdal police station, said a police source.

After talking to local people, the police have come to know that the attackers first threw crude bombs, injuring three bystanders, including a 93-year-old man, which forced Ashok to take shelter inside the tea stall. They shot him at least four times from close range, killing him instantly.

Assaulted ISF polling agent Mizanur Mondal. Pashupati Das

Despite the heightened security and naka-checking on the road and nearby areas because of the bypoll, “the assailants managed to escape unchallenged” said a police source.

Ashok was initially taken to a local government hospital in Jagatdal, but was soon transferred to a private hospital in Barrackpore, where doctors declared him dead.

Ashok’s death on the outskirts of Naihati was the only report of major violence or casualty on bypoll day.

Till 5pm, Naihati saw 62.1 per cent voter turnout, the lowest of the six Assembly constituencies. Taldangra recorded 75.2 per cent, the highest. Haroa recorded 73.95, Medinipur had 71.85, Sitai had 66.35, and Madarihat, 64.14.

The turnout figures — already healthy for a bypoll and expected to rise further by the end of polling — suggested that people came out to cast their votes despite the alleged attacks and highhandedness by Trinamool.

The bypolls hold significance as they are being held three months after the grisly rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar, which shook the nation, made global headlines and landed the Mamata Banerjee dispensation in its toughest spot, politically, in its 13-plus years in power. There have been countless allegations against the Trinamool ecosystem of complicity and attempted cover-up.

Political watchers expect the bypoll results — to be out on November 23 — to serve as an indicator of the ruling Trinamool’s current standing in Bengal amid the unprecedented political challenge from the protests in the wake of the RG Kar tragedy.

“The polls were as free and as fair as possible in India, and largely peaceful. The BJP’s Election Commission handled everything, and Amit Shah’s central forces were deployed in every corner,” said a Trinamool MP.

“As a 5-1 or 6-0 result is most likely (in Trinamool’s favour), our election-management machinery left little to chance today. The results would be brandished as a referendum of the masses against the movements of the urban elite, backed by the Left and ultra-Left,” he added.

At Jagatdal, police have launched an investigation, but are yet to determine a motive. Having arrested an FIR-named accused, Kausar Ali, police are currently interrogating him.

Ashok’s family, however, alleged an “intra-Trinamool conspiracy”, hinting at tension between the ruling party’s Jagatdal MLA Somenath Shyam’s faction and its activists aligned with former Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, who recently rejoined the BJP.

The victim’s brother Pradip Shaw said: “The police know who is behind this murder.”

“My brother stood against corruption, which some party leaders couldn’t tolerate. I won’t name them, but everyone knows who they are,” he added.

Sources in Trinamool said MLA Shyam was being obliquely referred to.

Local Trinamool insiders, however, suggested that the murder could have been the fallout of a revenge plot.

In 2022, an alleged drug-peddler called Akash Shaw was allegedly lynched in Bhatpara, and Ashok was suspected of instigating the mob, which reportedly earned him the wrath of Akash’s family.

In February 2023, Ashok narrowly survived a murder attempt allegedly orchestrated by Akash’s brother Sujal.

On Wednesday, witnesses claimed Sujal was present on the crime scene, accusing him of leading the attack.

“It was clearly a revenge attack by Sujal and his aides, with the support of certain party members, all seeking payback against Ashok for his proximity to Arjun Singh,” said a Trinamool insider.

Barrackpore Police commissioner Alok Rajoria acknowledged Sujal’s involvement in the previous murder attempt, but was cautious in attributing Wednesday’s attack to him.

“Sujal’s involvement was found in 2023, but nothing can be said about this one. We are reviewing CCTV footage and considering all possible angles,” said Rajoria.

Ashok’s murder intensified political tension, with the BJP’s Arjun Singh accusing Trinamool of fomenting violence to intimidate voters in Naihati and elsewhere.

“Ashok Shaw was murdered by criminals sheltered by Trinamool leaders. This is part of an ongoing internal rivalry between Trinamool factions. The same group had attacked BJP leader Priyangu Pandey some months ago,” claimed the former MP, demanding an NIA probe.

Trinamool MLA Shyam’s political mentor, Barrackpore MP Partha Bhowmick, dismissed the idea of internal conflict.

“It’s tragic that we lost a dedicated activist. This violence is the result of Arjun Singh’s goonda raj in Bhatpara. We will end this reign of terror, and the day will come when Arjun has to flee,” said Bhowmick.

Repoll cry

The Left-backed ISF candidate in Haroa, Piyarul Islam, demanded re-polling at 37 booths, claiming Trinamool workers prevented his polling agents from entering booths.

Attack claim

In Madarihat, the only one of these six seats that the BJP had won in 2021, suspected Trinamool supporters attacked the vehicle of BJP candidate Rahul Lohar.

Around 11am, as Lohar reached a booth in the Bangabari area of the Mujnai tea estate, a group of people attacked him.

“Around 25 Trinamool supporters attacked me and ransacked my car. They threatened me,” alleged Lohar, seen after the incident traveling to other places in the constituency in the same vehicle.

Trinamool candidate Jay Prakash Toppo denied the charge and said some residents with no political connections had demonstrated before the BJP candidate.

“The BJP candidate has realised that he will lose. That is why he has resorted to such antics and is raising baseless charges to malign our party,” said Toppo.

Additional reporting by Anirban Choudhury in Alipurduar