BJP worker shot dead in Durgapur, four injured; Union minister Babul Supriyo blames 'TMC-sheltered sand mafia' for attack

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker was shot dead in Durgapur, West Bengal, on Sunday night. The party has alleged that 21-year-old Sandip Ghosh was “murdered by the sand mafia”, also accusing Trinamool Congress “goons” of being hand in glove. [caption id=“attachment_4888871” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “The country is watching Mamata Banerjee’s terror rule closely. 2019 will bring an end to the Mamata government,” Bengal BJP said on Twitter, also sharing a gruesome image of Ghosh’s body. Union minister Babul Supriyo said Ghosh was “brutally shot dead” while he was returning home around 10 pm after a party meeting in Saraswati Gunj. Four others were injured in the incident and admitted to Durgapur Mission Hospital, he said, adding that the four had said “TMC-sheltered sand mafia Saiful” were behind the attack. Ghosh was the BJP’s Rupganj booth president of the Asansol-Durgapur Kanksha Block. “Deeply anguished and distressed in the manner TMC has resorted to robbing young lives,” Supriyo said. BJP leader and former Union minister Mukul Roy said: “There is no democracy in West Bengal. Time has come for Central government to intervene immediately.” The party’s Bengal unit also shared Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s tweet on Human Rights Day, saying:

What a cruel joke!! Your party goon Saiful killed 21 years old youth student and BJP worker Sandeep Ghosh in Asansol-Durgapur yesterday night.

Please stop the killing of opposition party members first then talk about Human rights. https://t.co/XiI7Ev0LAE

— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) December 10, 2018

Political violence has been rampant in West Bengal with near-everyday incidents between the Trinamool Congress and BJP, each party blaming the other for attacks on its workers as well as murders. In the past few months, the state has seen a spike in cases of political violence. Before the panchayat polls in May, TMC cadres were blamed after  two CPM workers were burnt to death in Kolkata’s neighbouring South 24 Parganas district. On 2 July, the body of a 52-year-old BJP leader, Dharma Hazra, was found floating in a pond in Murshidabad district. The incident came only a month after the bodies of Trilochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar were found in two villages of Purulia on 31 May and 2 June. While Mahato’s body was hanging from a tree, Kumar was found hanging from a high tension electric pole. While Opposition parties have blamed TMC's "hooliganism" , the ruling party in West Bengal has defended itself and blamed the BJP for “importing” this “violent culture” to West Bengal.