Workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who were protesting the alleged death of a BJP leader and the Kaliyaganj rape and murder case were taken into custody on Friday in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.
Workers for the West Bengal BJP have demanded a 12-hour bandh in North Bengal today in protest of alleged police violence against regular citizens in the state. The TMC government, according to BJP leader Debasree Choudhury, is hostile to 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 alleged that the state police personnel shot dead the BJP worker, identified as Mritunjay Burman, on Wednesday late night when they came to arrest the party’s panchayat samiti member in Kaliaganj, Bishnu Barman.
