BJP worker found dead in Coochbehar after clash, father claims "murder" by TMC workers

Coochbehar (West Bengal) [India], June 18 : The body of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker was found in a jute field near his house in Cooch Behar's Sahebganj along with stab wounds.

The body has been identified to be of one, Shambhu Das. The police are investigating the matter.

"The body of a person namely Shambhu Das was found in a jute field near his house in Sahebganj PS limits of Cooch Behar. The body sustained stabbing marks. Police are investigating the matter. Further probe is underway," Sumit Kumar, the Cooch Behar Superintendent of Police said.

Naren Das, the father of the deceased said, "My son had no enemies. He was a BJP worker. He went out in the afternoon and around four to five people stabbed him during that time. We think TMC workers may have killed him."

A clash broke out between TMC and BJP workers on Saturday at the Sahebganj Block Development Office during the scrutiny of nomination papers for the July 8 panchayat elections. The BJP alleged that a bomb was hurled at the car of Nisith Pramanik on Saturday.

"The police here are literally helpless. (TMC MLA) Udayan Guha is standing there with his goons, numbering 1,000-1,500. They are snatching Form B (nomination paper) from the hands of our workers and the Election Commission and the state administration are sitting silent," BJP's West Bengal chief Sukanta Majumdar said.

"If a minister can be attacked like that, one can only imagine the plight of the common man in West Bengal. Is Mamata Banerjee running the state or only resorting to a drama," Majumdar added.

West Bengal has seen a significant uptick in incidents of violence ahead of the panchayat polls. with clashes reported around the filing of nominations, including an outbreak of violence at the Block Development Office in Birbhum's Ahmadpur, where crude bombs were allegedly hurled.

Some visuals have surfaced of crude bombs being hurled in the area on Saturday. The police detained a few people in connection with the clash.