Two suspects arrested in connection with Trinamool leader Nirmal Kundu’s murder case

The police on Wednesday in Nimta area of West Bengal’s 24 Parganas arrested two suspects in connection with the murder of Nirmal Kundu, Trinamool Congress president of Ward 6 of North Dum Dum Municipality, who was shot dead by two bike-borne persons on Tuesday evening.

Uttam Mondal and Rabindranath Sil are allegedly linked to the shooting and have been produced before the Barrackpore sub divisional court on Wednesday. According to the police, two more suspects have been arrested and they would be produced the court soon.

Kundu, 44, was talking to some people near by his house at Patna area in Nimta on Tuesday evening when he was shot at. He was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him dead. He was received bullet injuries in his head. After the incident, tension grips the area. On Wednesday morning, a CCTV footage which shows the incident went viral. In the footage, Kundu was seen talking to locals at a tea stall when two people on a motorcycle drove past and the pillion-rider shot twice at him.

In the footage, the body is seen slumping to the ground as the motorcycle speeds away by cutting through the crowd that had begun to gather there.

All seven phases of the just concluded Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal were marred by violence, with both the BJP and the TMC trading blame over the issue. The BJP has made deep inroads into the Trinamool citadel by winning 18 Lok Sabha seats and cutting the TMC down to size by limiting its win in only 22 seats against 34 it bagged in 2014. In the Lok Sabha polls, BJP secured a clear majority with 303 seats, while Congress was at a distant 52.

Tuesday's incident took place a couple of days after a BJP worker, who had gone missing since Saturday was found dead in West Bengal’s Basirhat. The victim was identified as Ajay Mondal. The 36-year-old was reportedly hacked to death. His bruised body with multiple injuries was found in a roadside canal at Bajitpur on Sunday morning. The police said that the body has been sent for autopsy to know. 

On Monday, an infant was killed while a person sustained a bullet injury and several others were injured as there seemed to be no respite from continuous political violence between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP in West Bengal. Activists of both sides were beaten up while incidents of ransacking houses and damage to vehicles were reported across districts.

Trinamool activists alleged a woman at Sildanga area in North 24 Parganas' Ashoknagar was physically abused allegedly by one of her relatives and a local BJP leader for "not agreeing to support the saffron party" and her child sustained an injury while she was heckled.

Earlier, another BJP worker was stabbed to death in West Bengal's West Burdwan district on Thursday. Sushil Mondal, 49, was killed allegedly by a Trinamool Congress activist following an altercation over putting up BJP flags at Panduk village under Ketugram police station limits. Local TMC leaders, however, claimed Mondal was a victim of the party's internal feud. The police said Mondal's wife has lodged a complaint against three persons who are on the run.

On May 25, a 23-year-old BJP worker was shot dead in Nadia district of the state. Santu Ghosh (23), a resident of Tapaban area in Chakdaha town was shot at from a close range after he went out of his house following a phone call.

He was taken to Chakdaha State General Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. As a result, BJP leaders and workers staged a road blockade on National Highway 34, the police said.

West Bengal has witnessed widespread tension since the Lok Sabha Elections were announced in March earlier this year. Sporadic violence was reported during the 7-phase-long polls across state. Both the BJP and Trinamool have blamed each other for the bloodbath.

It should be noted that family members of over 40 BJP workers, who were killed in political violence in West Bengal, were also invited for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on May 30 last month. It was the very reason for which Mamata Banerjee had turned down the invite and said that the BJP was trying to politicise the oath-taking ceremony. 

The rift has only deepened since the May 23 verdict which saw the BJP creating history in Bengal. The saffron party won 18 seats in the state with ruling Trinamool Congress getting 22 seats. The double-digit growth has given the BJP every reason to cheer. How important is the Bengal win was reflected in BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s victory speech at party headquarters in New Delhi on May 23.

The highly polarised elections in Bengal saw many firsts also. In an unprecedented move, the Election Commission of India had barred campaigning a day early, before the seventh and final phase, after a bout of clashes led to the damage of property, including a bust of reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. 

(With PTI inputs)