Kolkata: The death of a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha worker in Kolkata has led pitched protests by Bharatiya Janata Party workers who have alleged that the ruling Trinamool Congress has had a part to play in the death. TMC has claimed it was staged by BJP.
The death took place during a two-day visit of BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah, who also paid a visit to the deceased man’s family and asked for a CBI probe.
Meanwhile, the Calcutta high court on Friday, May 6, ordered that the post-mortem of the deceased, Arjun Chowrasia, be conducted at the Command Hospital in the city.
BJP leader and lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal moved the court on behalf of Chowrasia’s mother, claiming that the death was unnatural and was connected to the violence in the state following the 2021 assembly elections.
Chowrasia was found hanging at an abandoned railway quarter in Kashipur.
“Yesterday TMC celebrated one year of its third term in office and now we have this case of Chowrasia being killed,” Amit Shah said to reporters after meeting the worker’s family members. He also added that the Union home ministry is “taking serious note of Chowrasia’s death and has sought a report on it.”
The home minister also said Chowrasia’s family had complained that his body had been taken away forcibly.
A division bench presided by Justice Prakash Shrivastava directed that the chief medical officer of the Command Hospital in Alipore will form a team of doctors for the post-mortem. The bench, also comprising Justice R. Bharadwaj, directed that the Chief Judicial Magistrate of South 24 Parganas district will be present during the post-mortem and that the whole process should be videographed.
It further directed the Commissioner of Kolkata Police to ensure that the body is safely taken to the Command Hospital, meant for treating defence personnel, from the state-run R.G. Kar Hospital in the northern part of the city.
The bench also directed the police commissioner to ensure the security of Chowrasia’s family. It said that the matter will be taken up for hearing again on Tuesday, May 10.
Meanwhile, TMC has claimed Chowrasia was associated with the party and not the BJP.
Local TMC MLA Atin Ghosh, who also visited the spot ahead before Shah, claimed Chowrasia was associated with the party and had even campaigned for it during the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections held recently – something which had earned him the anger of a section of local BJP.
“BJP assembled outsiders during today’s protest as it has no base in the area,” Ghosh added.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, too, told local media that Chowrasia would be recently seen with leaders disgruntled with BJP. “We have to see if they have sacrificed their own worker to prepare the stage for a drama,” he said.
State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya on the other hand claimed that the man was an efficient BJP party worker. “We found him dead this morning. Chowrasia was to be part of a bike rally that was to be taken out from Kolkata airport to welcome Amit Shah ji,” he said.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh accused TMC of claiming all BJP worker deaths were the result of factions within BJP. “TMC leaders are showing their way of thinking by saying BJP has staged this. There are many examples that show that TMC does this,” Ghosh said.
(With PTI inputs)