A local Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manish Shukla was shot dead by unidentified miscreants on Sunday (October 5) night near Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.
The incident took place on BT Road, barely a few meters away from the local police station. Police sources said Shukla was shot multiple times in the back and upper torso. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital on the EM Bypass where he was declared brought dead by doctors.
Eyewitness says
As per the eyewitness, Shukla was shot after returning from a meeting in Habra with other party leaders. He was chatting with a few people at a tea stall around 8.30 pm when the masked gunmen opened several rounds of fire.
The assailants’ bullets struck Shukla on the chest and forehead. He was taken to a private hospital in Kolkata but was declared dead at 9.20 pm.
Two other BJP workers also sustained bullet injuries during the attack as they tried to save Shukla.
Arjun Singh alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has organized the attack. “He was with me till 7.30 pm. Just near Titagarh police station, they fired 12 shots. He was declared dead at Apollo Hospital. He was my close friend, and has been killed in front of the police.”
BJP blames TMC
In a video message posted on Twitter, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya named Verma and Joint Commissioner of Police Ajay Kumar Thakur. “One of our loyal workers, who was close to MP Arjun Singh, has been shot dead outside Titagarh police station. Arjun Singh has been saying from the beginning that police officials have been hired by Mamata Banerjee to kill him. This requires a CBI probe and the role of police must be investigated.”
Senior party leader Arvind Menon accused the ruling party and the state administration of providing shelter to criminals. “They are conspiring to commit public murders and also giving shelter to criminals,” he tweeted.
Later in the night, Arjun Singh tweeted, “Manish was my younger brother, he was always there with me. He has sacrificed his life for the people of Bengal. The people of Bengal will always remember this sacrifice. TMC and their loyal police will have to pay for this and will face the consequences.”
TMC leader Nirmal Ghosh said the killing was a fallout of an internal BJP fight
TMC leaders dismissed the allegations leveled by the Opposition party. “It is a fight within their party and everyone knows in the vicinity,” said a ruling party leader on the condition of anonymity.
TMC leader Nirmal Ghosh said the killing was a fallout of an internal BJP fight. He accused the Opposition party of “trying to malign the image of the TMC”.
Like Singh, Shukla too was with the TMC before joining the BJP in 2019. He was considered to be a local strongman and survived a similar attack in 2018.