According to the police, the body of the local ruling party worker, Mintu Sheikh, 50, was discovered on Monday morning in Ketugram village of the district when polling was underway. They said Sheikh was on his way home last night when some people hurled three crude bombs at him and then killed him with sharp weapons.

The police said on Monday they have arrested two men in connection with the killing. “Bhulan Sheikh and Samsur Sheikh have been arrested. We are currently investigating the matter. The body has been sent for post-mortem,” said a senior police officer of the district.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought a report on the incident from the district administration.

While the Trinamool Congress accused the CPI(M) of the killing, Sheikh’s wife claimed her husband was a victim of the ruling party’s infighting. Tuhina Khatun told media persons, “Contract killers were brought to kill my husband. Local TMC leaders are involved in this. His death is a fallout of the party infighting”.

TMC spokesperson Prosenjit Das alleged that Sheikh was killed by CPIM activists as he was an active party worker. “The CPIM workers and their goons understood that they would not win the election this time and resorted to violence. As Sheikh was a dedicated worker of our party, the CPIM targeted him. There is no party infighting here,” said Das.

The Trinamool Congress also raised the issue in an X post. “Taking a page out of their 34-year reign of violence and bloodshed, CPI(M) harmads brutally killed our party worker in Ketugram. Mintu Sheikh was on his way home after election duties when he was stopped, brutally hacked and bombed to death. After being wiped out of Bengal, CPI(M), now empowered by the BJP, has a singular agenda: to bring back the dark days by terrorising people. We urge @ECISVEEP to take immediate action!” it said.

However, the CPIM denied the allegations. “Our workers in Ketugram had to flee their houses to escape the TMC’s reign of terror. We don’t have strength there. Besides, the wife of the deceased has pointed a finger at the TMC for the killing. To deny such allegations, the TMC is blaming the Left,” said local CPIM leader Syed Hossain.

Although Ketugram is located in the East Burdwan district, the Assembly constituency falls under the Bolpur Lok Sabha seat in the neighbouring Birbhum district.