BJP worker found dead in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district; party accuses TMC 'goons' of murder

Contai: A BJP worker was found dead in a forested area in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, triggering tension in the locality, as the saffron party alleged that he was murdered by TMC “goons”. The state’s ruling party, however, brushed aside the allegations as “baseless and bereft of truth”. Gokul Jana’s body was recovered from Itabedia area in the district on Wednesday night, and an inquiry has been initiated into the case, a police officer said. Taking to Twitter, the state unit of the BJP said, “Gokul Jana, BJP’s booth worker from Kanthi Bhagabanpur assembly, was brutally murdered by TMC goons. His crime? He requested the husband of a TMC panchayat member affected by Corona to stay in quarantine!” “Is this how a democracy is supposed to survive under Mamata Banerjee’s TMC in Bengal?” the saffron party tweeted. BJP leader Sayantan Basu also claimed that Jana was a victim of political rivalry, and accused the local police of trying to shield the assailants by hushing up the matter. “Hundreds of our workers have been killed by the TMC in West Bengal and the police are not taking any action. The ruling party doesn’t believe in democracy,” Basu stated. The saffron party’s national secretary Arvind Menon, in a tweet in Hindi, deplored the “brutal murder” and posted a picture of the deceased. Describing BJP’s allegations as a “bunch of lies”, the TMC said none of its activists had any connection with Jana’s death. “We demand a thorough probe into his death. It seems the BJP has resorted to politics over dead bodies in the run up to assembly polls,” a district leader said.