A TMC worker, Ashok Shaw, was having tea at a roadside stall at Bhatpara, North 24 Parganas district, on Wednesday morning, when three unknown men shot him dead, which is being seen as the aftermath of post-poll bloodshed, said the police.
The occurrence was around 9 a.m. when the attackers fired at Shaw and threw a bomb at him before they escaped from the scene.
Barrackpore police commissioner Alok Rajoria confirmed that Shaw, the main accused in the murder of Akash Prasad in February this year, was out on bail in connection with this case. The authorities believe that the performers of the attack were Sujay, Prasad’s brother, in order to avenge his brother’s death.
Shaw’s friend Sujit Singh said this was the second attempt on Shaw’s life, and the latter had escaped a similar attack in 2023. Singh pointed to the increasing gangland violence clashes as the reason for the crime.
The murder happened near the Bhatpara police station, and the political leaders entered the area soon. According to West Bengal BJP leader Shankudeb Panda accused the TMC of trying to panic the voters, especially in view of bypolls in the Naihati seat.
According to the TMC legislator Somnath Shyam of Jagatdal, it was difficult to say the exact modality, and the BJP leader Arjun Singh dwelt on the deteriorating law and order situations in the state, pointing out that the murder took place 50 meters away from the police station.
The murder has raised concerns about the security of the voters since 108 companies of central paramilitary forces were used for the by-elections to the six seats in Naihati, Madarihat, and Midnapore, where bye-elections were held after the election of Mukul Roy to Lok Sabha and Partha Bhowmik as minister.
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