West Bengal BJP activists clash with police during bandh over worker's killing

The BJP had called a 12-hour bandh in the Bagnan assembly constituency area against the killing of its worker Kinkar Majhi

Soumya Das, DHNS, Kolkata,

Oct 29 2020, 14:03 ist
updated: Oct 29 2020, 22:12 ist

West Bengal BJP activists clashed with the police in Howrah district's Bagnan. Credit: PTI File Photo

BJP workers clashed with police in West Bengal’s Howrah district on Thursday after they were denied permission to take out a protest rally against the alleged killing of a party worker in the Bagnan area of the district.

A local BJP worker, Kinkar Majhi, who was allegedly shot on October 24, succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. The state BJP leadership had called for a 12-hour bandh in Bagnan in protest against the incident which they claimed was orchestrated by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

The trouble started after BJP Yuva Morcha President and MP Soumitra Khan went inside the Bagnan Police Station to speak to senior officials after the saffron party was not allowed to take out a protest march. As Khan was speaking to police officials, the crowd of BJP workers started to swell outside the police station.

A large police contingent, along with personnel of the Rapid Action Force, was deployed at the gate of the police station to prevent any untoward incident.

Soon, the BJP workers tried to barge through the gate and entered into a scuffle with the police personnel. They were chased away by the police personnel after some time. Several BJP workers were arrested.

“A BJP worker was murdered but we were not allowed to take out a protest march. However, the TMC was allowed to take out a rally,” said Khan.

The TMC leadership has denied any involvement with the incident and said that Majhi was shot dead by anti-socials due to a family dispute and accused the BJP of resorting to falsehood.