Kolkata: The police have arrested four persons, including a Trinamool Congress leader, in connection with the murder of a BJP worker during post-poll violence in the New Town area of Kolkata.
Police said on Wednesday that the accused were arrested from areas near the India-Bangladesh border in Bangaon and Gopalnagar in North 24 Parganas district. Officers from the Technocity police station carried out the arrests.
Initial investigations suggest that the accused were allegedly attempting to flee to Bangladesh after committing the murder.
BJP worker Madhu Mondal was allegedly killed amid post-poll violence in the state. Tension flared in New Town on Tuesday afternoon following allegations that the BJP worker had been beaten to death.
According to the police, Madhu Mondal was a resident of the Baligari area under the Rajarhat-New Town Assembly constituency.
Sources said he had a long-standing land-related dispute with the accused Trinamool Congress leader, Kamal Mondal.
The simmering tension reportedly escalated after the BJP secured a massive mandate in the West Bengal Assembly elections, ending the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress government.
Allegedly, Kamal Mondal and his associates attacked Madhu Mondal on Tuesday afternoon.
The BJP worker was brutally assaulted. After he was rescued in a critically injured condition and taken to hospital, doctors declared him dead.
The incident triggered widespread tension in the area.
Police immediately launched an investigation and conducted raids at multiple locations. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, investigators reached the Gopalnagar and Kalyanpur areas of Bangaon.
Trinamool Congress leader Kamal Mondal and his three associates were arrested there in the early hours of Wednesday.
Investigating officers suspect that the accused were planning to escape to Bangladesh.
It is learnt that Kamal Mondal is a former member of the Rajarhat Patharghata Gram Panchayat. His wife, Chameli Mondal, is currently a member of the panchayat.
Tension spread in the locality after news of the murder surfaced.
Kamal Mondal’s house was surrounded by angry locals and extensive vandalism was reported.
Piyush Kanoria, the newly elected BJP MLA from the area, has demanded strict punishment for those involved in the murder.
(IANS)
