Two TMC Municipality Chairpersons Named in Bengal BJP Councillor's Murder Case, Kin Demand CBI Probe

The family members of former BJP councillor Manish Shukla, who was shot dead on Sunday at Titagarh in North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, lodged FIR against nine persons, including two Trinamool Congress leaders, who are also the chairmen of Titagarh and Barrackpore municipalities.

The family has accused the chairman of Titagarh municipality Prashanta Chowdhury, and Uttam Das, chairman of Barrackpore municipality along with seven others of the killing. They also lodged a formal complaint with the district police.

Mani Chandra Shukla, Manish’s father, said, “My son was killed due to political rivalry because he became very popular in the area due to his hard work. I think there should be a CBI inquiry into the matter because we don’t trust the local police. They will slap weak sections and the accused will get bail. We want stern action against the culprits.”

Chowdhury and Das have denied the allegations. “The BJP is losing ground in our area as a lot of their workers have joined TMC. Now to stop us from doing developmental work for the people, they have slapped false charges against us. They have done this purely with the intention of doing politics on behalf of the BJP,” said Chowdhury.

“All allegations against us are false and fabricated. This is simply an attempt to stop TMC from gaining confidence among the people. Truth will come out soon,” said Das.

Last night, in a major breakthrough, two persons were arrested for the killing Manish Shukla, who was shot by two unknown bike-borne assailants on October 4. The duo opened fire at Shukla on B T Road in the evening when he was attending a party meeting. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.

The arrests were made by the joint Special Investigation Team (SIT), including Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the district police. Those who were arrested were identified as Khurram Khan. a local influential businessman, and Gulam Sheikh, a hired killer.

Confirming the arrest, Barrackpore Police Commissionerate Manoj Verma, said, “Yes, two persons have been held. One of the arrested persons was named in the FIR. We have several pieces of evidence that they were behind the killing.”

When asked about the motive of the incident, he said, “There are various personal, as well as, other reasons. The investigation team is looking into the matter. The arrested persons will be produced in a court today.”

Probe revealed that Khurram Khan used to claim himself as the ‘Robinhood’ of the area and he was seen active in the local political fraternity. In 2016, he was seen with some BJP leaders in some of the social welfare activities in the area. Earlier, he was with the CPI(M).