TMC activist hacked to death in Bengal's Murshidabad, state BJP blames it on 'infighting for turf control'

Sasthi Ghosh was returning home on Wednesday night when he was accosted by the assailants who 'repeatedly attacked him with a sharp tool', a police officer said.

Kolkata: A TMC activist was allegedly hacked to death by unidentified miscreants at Bharatpur in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

Sasthi Ghosh was returning home on Wednesday night when he was accosted by the assailants who “repeatedly attacked him with a sharp tool”, the officer said.

Ghosh, who was lying in a pool of blood on the street, was taken to a local hospital where doctors declared him brought-dead, he said.

The reason behind the killing could be personal enmity over property matters, but the exact motive will be known following an investigation, he said.

Search is underway to trace the accused.

The family of the deceased claimed that Ghosh was murdered for being associated with the TMC.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP and Congress alleged that the murder was a result of infighting in the Trinamool Congress.

Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh claimed that “internal bickering among TMC activists and leaders across West Bengal has reached a stage where they are fighting for turf control and ill-gotten money from crime syndicates. The Bharatpur incident is another such example".

Former Congress MP and senior party leader Adhir Chowdhury asserted that Ghosh was killed “by his own party men”.

“The TMC is now embroiled in a deadly battle over cut money (illegal commission) and the police is a mute spectator,” he alleged.

The TMC, however, maintained that there was no political motive behind the killing of Ghosh.

Bharatpur TMC MLA Humayun Kabir said personal enmity between two groups in the village resulted in the murder.

“The party wants the culprits to be identified and arrested, and it has full faith in the police investigation,” Kabir said.

In another incident, the nephew of a panchayat member was allegedly hacked to death at Madhusudanpur in Kakdwip area of South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday, police said.

The body of the youth was found in an open field hours after he left home, they said.

Police have started an investigation into the incident.