Kaliaganj girl’s death: Several BJP workers detained in West Bengal

Protesting against the alleged murder of a BJP leader and the Kaliyaganj rape and murder case, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were detained in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district on Friday.

West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers have called for a 12-hour bandh in North Bengal today in protest of alleged police brutality against ordinary citizens in the state. Debasree Choudhury, a BJP leader, claimed that Mamata Banerjee’s TMC government is anti-Rajbangshi people.

“We have called for a bandh after seeing the condition here. This incident (the alleged murder of a BJP leader) was very shameful. Constant attacks are done on the Rajbangshi people which shows that TMC is against Rajbangshi,” Choudhury said.

Meanwhile, in Siliguri BJP workers were seen enforcing a 12-hour bandh by shutting off the shops.

On Friday, West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said, “BJP has called for a 12-hour bandh on Friday in North Bengal to protest against police brutality on common people,”

The shutdown has been called following the death of BJP worker Mrityunjay Burman in Radhikapur near Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district. BJP alleged that Mrityunjay died in police firing.

Reacting on this matter BJP MP Debashree Chowdhury said, “The ruling party (Trinamool Congress) is mistaken if they think they could silence us by shooting at our cadres or making random arrests. The whole country is with us,” Chowdhury said.

She claimed that state police shot dead a BJP worker, Mritunjay Burman, on Wednesday late night while on their way to arrest the party’s panchayat samiti member in Kaliaganj, Bishnu Barman.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday requested a detailed report on the Mekhilygunge Police investigation into the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in Kaliaganj, West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district.

The next hearing date has been set for May 2 by Justice Rajashekhar Mantha’s bench. During the hearing, the court requests that the videography of the post mortem be preserved because, if necessary, the court will investigate it at a later date.

The court also requested a FIR and post-mortem reports, and asked police to provide a copy to the victim’s family members as well as a member of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights.

The case involves the death of a minor girl in Kaliaganj. The victim’s body was discovered floating in a canal in Kaliaganj on April 20.

Locals claimed that the minor was raped and murdered. This sparked outrage and protests. People blocked roads, burned tyres, and set fire to several businesses. There were also some clashes between locals and police.

A video also went viral purportedly showing the police dragging what appeared to be the victim’s body while taking it for a post-mortem.

However, Uttar Dinajpur Superintendant of Police on April 22, said that the victim’s post-mortem report given by doctors reveals that death was due to a poisonous substance.

“Victim’s post-mortem report given by doctors reveals that death was due to a poisonous substance. No major injury. We will again ask doctors to clarify if there’s any sexual injury,” he said.