A Trinamool Congress leader, who contested and won the recent panchayat elections, was killed and another person injured in a shootout at Magrahat in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, police informed on Saturday. Sharing details of the incident, Diamond Harbour Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Mithun Dey, said the incident took place on Friday late night in the Arjunpur area of Block 2 of Magrahat in the South 24 Parganas district..
Word of the incident came on a day Union Minister Anurag Thakur, on a visit to West Bengal, hit out at the ruling Trinamool Congress government over the violence and bloodshed in the state during and after the panchayat polls. The winning TMC panchayat poll candidate was identified as Maimur Gharami and the injured person was identified as Shajahan Mollah, the SDPO added.
Further, according to the police, both the TMC candidate and his aide were rushed to Magrahat Primary Health Centre in a critical state. The Trimabool leader succumbed to his injuries at the health centre while his aide was out of danger, police added.
A large police force arrived at the scene in the wake of the incident and an investigation was underway, an officer said. “We have detained a suspect in connection with this matter and preliminary investigation points to a land dispute as a possible motive for the murder,” the officer said.
“Although, there is nothing yet to suggest a political involvement in the killing, we are not ruling it out,” the officer added.
