TMC leader shot at in Bengal's Cooch Behar, BJP MLA's son held

Kolkata: A Trinamool Congress leader in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal was injured after a group of assailants shot at him, police said on Friday.

Raju Dey, the ‘karmadhyaksha’ of Cooch Behar Block 2 Panchayat Samity, suffered injuries in the attack near Jhinaidanga area around 11 pm on Thursday, they said.

BJP MLA from Cooch Behar (Uttar) Sukumar Roy's son and his driver have been arrested in connection with the incident, a police officer said.

"The bullet struck Dey’s right shoulder. He was taken to a nearby hospital by party workers, and his condition is stated to be stable,” the officer said.

The miscreants, who came in a black car, fled, leaving behind the vehicle, which has been impounded, he said.

"The vehicle belongs to MLA Roy. The BJP leader's son and the driver of the car have been arrested. We have witnesses who have seen his son in the car at the time of the incident. Our investigation is continuing," the police officer said.

An FIR has been lodged against four people, he said.

In a video message, Dey said, "A couple of months back, locals in Chakchaka had held protests because the MLA remained inactive in the area. The legislator was travelling in the same car back then. It was seen yesterday, too, when I was attacked." The ruling TMC alleged that the BJP was behind the attack on Dey.

"The 2024 Lok Sabha results from Bengal made it clear that @BJP4India was rapidly losing ground in Cooch Behar. Now that the district has slipped from their iron-fisted grasp, they've returned to what they do best: unleashing BRUTE, MINDLESS VIOLENCE," the TMC said in a post on X.

“Our Panchayat Samiti worker from Jhinaidanga was shot in cold blood. CCTV footage confirms the involvement of @BJP4Bengal MLA Sukumar Roy’s son, flanked by their usual gang of armed goons,” it said.

The saffron party has rubbished the charge, asserting that the attack was a "pre-planned conspiracy" of the TMC.

"This is definitely a pre-planned conspiracy of the TMC. They did it along with the police," Roy claimed.