Eight charred bodies- seven dead at the spot, one succumbed later - were recovered from a cluster of houses that were set on fire, following the murder of an up-pradhan (deputy chief) of a Trinamool-regulated panchayat in a West Bengal village in Rampurhat, located over 200 km from Kolkata.
Angry villagers allegedly burned down houses as a retaliation to up-pradhan Bhadu Sheikh’s murder. The incident is being considered as a gruesome instance of killings resulting from political factionalism and rivalries, with the BJP leaders demanding Centre’s intervention, and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar adding in his public reaction that he is “considerably pained and disturbed at the horrifying barbarity at Rampurhat”.
BJP national president J P Nadda has nominated a five-member fact-finding committee. The committee will visit the village, collect the evidence and submit a report.
Director-General of Police (West Bengal) Manoj Malviya on Tuesday said that the up-pradhan, Bhadu Sheik was murdered on Monday evening, around 8.30 pm. A few hours later, in the vicinity, seven to eight houses were on fire. Police and fire brigade reached the spot before midnight.
Three injured villagers were rushed to the hospital, and one of them died later. On Tuesday morning, when the fire was finally brought under control, the fire brigade team discovered seven charred bodies in one of the burnt houses. It could be so that those were members of the same family.
Police officials are investigating if the fire was a retaliation of the murder, or was there some other cause for the fire. A special investigation team comprising seniormost state police officials is probing the incident.
Preliminary assessment, Malviya said, does not indicate a political rivalry between (any) two parties – personal enmity between two groups may have led to the murder of the up-pradhan. Eleven people have been arrested so far in the case.
The deaths have prompted stiff political reactions in the state. The Bengal BJP - represented by its MPs - wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking his intervention, and drawing his attention to the “unabated post-poll violence and deteriorating law and order situation” in the state.
The BJP MPs alleged that over 50 BJP supporters have been “murdered” by Trinamool “goons” in the state following the 2021 assembly elections. Referring to up-pradhan’s death “after being attacked by bombs”, the letter alleged that “increasing use of explosives and firearms, points towards terrorists being actively used by TMC to settle political scores”.
In a letter written to Governor Dhankhar, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called the governor's comments unfortunate. “... you have commented in your tweet that the horrifying violence and arson indicates that the state is under a grip of violence and lawlessness. This is highly unfortunate and unbecoming of a person holding such a dignified constitutional post,” Mamata stated.
The chief minister also mentioned to the Governor that “one important TMC party functionary, who was also up-pradhan of the gram panchayat, was brutally attacked and killed by some unknown miscreants. The political identity of the perpetrators of the crime is a subject of the investigation. Moreover, fire in some houses resulted in loss of few precious lives. The possibility of a larger political conspiracy to malign the image of the state cannot be ruled out…”.
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