West Bengal BJP leader Manish Shukla died after he was shot multiple times in the face and chest at Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district on Sunday (October 4) evening. Shukla who was rushed to a private hospital in Kolkata was declared dead hours later.
The Director General of police and the Home Secretary were summoned by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhawan on Monday.
The BJP accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) for sending “goons” to assassinate Shukla. “Bengal is now being turned into place where murders are normalised! Manish Shukla, BJP councillor from Titagarh was shot by TMC goons. These series of murders clearly indicates towards your inevitable end TMC,” the party tweeted.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal on Thursday arrested two accused identified as Gulab Sheikh and Mohammad Khurram, and remanded to police custody for 14 days.
According to police, Shukla’s killing was a “murder for revenge”. “Two have been arrested, investigation is on. Motive seems to be a personal rivalry or revenge, however it’s too early to say anything,” said one of the officials.
The BJP workers have been agitating by blocking roads and also announced a 12-hour bandh in Barrackpore area on Monday.
According to ANI, “Police used water cannon and lathi-charge to disperse Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) workers who are protesting at Howrah Bridge. BJP has launched a state-wide ‘Nabanna Chalo’ agitation march today to protest against the alleged killing of its party workers.”
The ‘March to Nabanna’ organized by the Yuva Morcha on Thursday turned violent after agitators threw bombs and bricks at the cops in Kolkata, said a senior official of Howrah police. The cops lathicharged the workers to disperse mob and retaliated by resorting to water cannons and fired tear gas shells. Party workers set tyres on fire as a mark of protest. Several BJP workers, including state Vice-president Raju Banerjee, were injured in the clash.
“The police are using their force to stop our workers who were organising a peaceful protest. This is the state of affairs in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal,” said BJP MP Arjun Singh who was present at the spot.
National President of BJP Yuva Morcha and Bengaluru MP Tejaswi Surya tweeted, “One feels most helpless trying to console a mother whose son was barbarically shot by political opponents. No words of solace will ever bring back her son. We visited martyr #ManishShukla’s house & thanked his mother for giving the country a patriot. BJYM stand by the family.”