As BJP workers took to the streets in protest Thursday, security was stepped up with Rapid Action Force (RAF) and central forces being deployed, apart from the police.
One person has been arrested in connection with the murder case, police said. The EC has also sought a report from the authorities. The incident sparked a blame game Thursday, with the BJP accusing the TMC of orchestrating the attack and the ruling party denying it, saying that it was a fallout of BJP infighting.
“The incident took place in the Sonachura area on Wednesday night. The deceased has been identified as Rathibala Adi. As the condition of one of the injured is critical, he has been shifted to Kolkata,” a senior police officer said. According to local sources, the critically injured victim is the son of the deceased BJP worker.
According to sources, BJP supporters were guarding the Mansapukur market area of Sonachuda on Wednesday night when a group of bike-borne men allegedly attacked them with sharp weapons. When Rathibala Adi fell on the road bleeding, her son Sanjay tried to save her and was grievously injured. After villagers gathered on hearing the workers’ screams, the accused fled, sources said. The locals took the BJP workers to Nandigram Super Specialty Hospital where Rathibala Adi was declared dead.
While Leader of Opposition and Nandigram MLA Suvendhu Adhikari blamed the TMC for the “barbaric murder” and called the accused “jihadists”, the TMC denied the allegations.
“BJP knows they will be defeated by TMC. It is pre-planned and they are firing from TMC’s shoulder to malign TMC,” TMC leader Santanu Sen said.
The incident happened hours after TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee held a meeting in Nandigram where he targeted Adhikari. At a public meeting in Kanthi, Adhikari hit out at Abhishek. “He (Abhishek) went yesterday to protest in 80 booths. This incident happened at (his) instigation…We have also named him in the FIR. The end result of this incident will not be good,” Adhikari said.
TMC leader Sheikh Sufian dismissed the “BJP lie”. “A fight broke out between the new BJP and old BJP in the area in which one died,” Sufian added.
In a letter to CEO, the BJP also demanded the transfer of the SP, Purba Medinipur. The BJP has alleged that Thursday’s murder case is a direct consequence of the “inflammatory statements” made by CM Mamata Banerjee at Haldia. Later, Governor C V Ananda Bose cautioned the CM over violence in Nandigram, saying the “bloodbath should end.”