According to the police on Monday, the TMC leader has been identified as Bijan Das who was killed when he went to the house of a party colleague to attend a birthday party. Das, the deputy head of Guma 1 panchayat, was shot twice from point-blank range, with one bullet hitting his head and another piercing through his left ear, said the police.

Sources said the killing was a fallout of a party infighting, after which angry residents vandalised the house of Goutam Das who has been accused of the murder.

A senior police officer said, “He was declared ‘brought dead’ when he was taken to the Barasat Medical College and Hospital. We are investigating the matter”.

TMC Barasat MP Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, who went to the hospital, said, “Bijan’s death is a big loss to the party. He started his political career in student politics and has been with the party since then”.