The mysterious death of a BJP youth wing leader Arjun Chowrasia on Friday triggered a fresh row in West Bengal with Union Home Minister Amit Shah visiting the residence of the deceased, terming it a political murder and saying that the party would demand a CBI probe into the matter. Mr. Shah, who was on a two-day trip to West Bengal, said the Home Ministry had a sought a report from the West Bengal government on the incident.
Mr. Chowrasia, 27, vice-president of the BJP’s youth wing of north Kolkata, was found hanging in an abandoned railway quarters at Cossipur in north Kolkata during the early hours of the day. BJP leaders alleged it was a murder and accused Trinamool Congress supporters of committing the crime. Tension prevailed in the Cossipur area, and supporters of the BJP and the Trinamool came face-to-face. The BJP supporters got into a scuffle with the police and it took several hours for the police to retrieve the body and send it for post-mortem. According to BJP leaders, when the body was found, the feet were touching the ground and it could not be suicide.
CBI investigations
The Home Minister, after meeting the family members of the youth leader, alleged that the body was forcibly taken away from his family and even his grandmother was roughed up. “Yesterday [May 5] the Trinamool government completed one year in power [third consecutive term], and the very next day the culture of political violence and political murder was resumed. Wherever we go in Bengal we have seen many examples of political violence, revenge killings, and targeting of Opposition workers,” Mr. Shah said. According to the Union Home Minister, in no other State in the country has the High Court handed over as many investigations from the State police to the CBI than in Bengal in a span of just one year. “This proves that the court has little faith in the police and the law and order in the State,” Mr. Shah added.
The Trinamool leadership refuted the allegations and said the party had nothing to do with the death and the BJP was trying to indulge in politics over the incident. “If they say the Trinamool had anything to do with this, then we will also say that a person close to a disgruntled BJP leader was sacrificed to set the stage for a Delhi leader to do drama on,” Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said. State Cabinet Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said the manner in which the BJP leaders were rushing to the spot and preventing the administration from doing its work, “we wonder whether it was pre-planned”.
BJP moves HC
Meanwhile, the State BJP leadership approached the Calcutta High Court which directed that the post-mortem of the deceased BJP leader be carried out at the Army’s command hospital in Kolkata in the presence of experts from different hospitals. Priyanka Tibrewal, BJP leader who represented the family before the court, said the “murder should be considered post-poll violence and should be investigated by the CBI”. The court also directed the Kolkata police to provide protection to the family.
“Last year, Arjun and his brother had to flee their house after results of the Assembly polls and I arranged for their return. He [Arjun] was being threatened by Trinamool supporters and was killed because he was supposed to lead a rally to welcome Mr. Amit Shah,” Ms. Tibrewal said. The High Court had directed CBI probe into incidents of murder and rape after the Assembly polls. The State BJP from its official handle said 57 of the party supporters had been killed over a year.
