A huge squad of cops rushed to ease tensions that have erupted with BJP supporters.
Calcutta:
BJP leader Manish Shukla was gunned down on Sunday evening, about 12 miles north of Kolkata, as he spoke with residents and party workers near a local police station.
The BJP today called for a 12-hour bandh (shutdown) in the Barrackpore area, accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress of the murder.
Trinamool Congress denied the charge and blamed the incident on an internal BJP feud.
Governor of Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar, who condemned the incident in a late-night tweet, summoned the DGP (Director General of Police) and Home Secretary to Raj Bhavan at 10 a.m.
ACS Home @MamataOfficial and DGP @WBPolice were summoned tomorrow at 10 am following the worsening public order situation which led to the despicable murder of Manish Shukla, councilor of the municipality of Titagarh at the political party office.
– Governor of West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@ jdhankhar1) October 4, 2020
According to eyewitness accounts, several men on motorcycles suddenly went to Manish Shukla, a member of the Barrackpore District organizing committee of the BJP and a former councilor, and riddled him with bullets.
He was reportedly shot in the head, chest and back, first rushed to a private hospital in Barrackpore, then Kolkata; however he died.
A huge squad of cops rushed to ease tensions that erupted with BJP supporters heckling Barrackpore Police Commissioner Manoj Verma and Additional Commissioner Ajay Thakur, and demanding the defendants’ immediate rest.
Senior BJP leaders who rushed to the scene blamed Trinamool Congress for the attack and called for a 12-hour bandh on Monday.
BJP Secretary General Kailash Vijayvargiya described Manish Shukla as “a close associate of Barrackpore MP of BJP Arjun Singh” and accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of his death.
“We have no confidence in the police. As the murder happened outside the police station, there must be a connection. There should be a CBI investigation into this. Arjun Singh had said earlier that his life and those of his associates were in danger, ”he said.
“I regret Mamta Banerjee that you resort to such tactics. The people will never forgive you,” he added.
