Kolkata: A Trinamool Congress (TMC) panchayat pradhan was killed by assailants in a crowded market in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, said police.
The assailants hurled bombs targeting Rupchand Mondal, who is a TMC panchayat pradhan of Amdanga, at Kamdevpur haat around 7 pm on Thursday. Mondal was attacked when he was speaking on his mobile phone, a senior officer said.
Mondal was taken to a local health facility and later shifted to a private hospital in Barasat where he succumbed to his injuries. He was killed days after the murder of another TMC panchayat member at Joynagar in neighbouring South 24 Parganas district.
TMC demands arrest of perpetrators
Upon learning about Mondal's demise, residents and Trinamool Congress supporters in the region blocked National Highway-34, calling for the immediate apprehension of the perpetrators.
MP Arjun Singh from Barrackpore visited the locality and urged authorities to arrest those accountable for causing unrest in the area. Singh said it appeared to be "a planned murder and police should find out the perpetrators".
Saifuddin Laskar was shot dead
Earlier in the week, TMC panchayat leader Saifuddin Laskar was shot dead in the Joynagar area of South 24 Parganas district.
TMC spokesperson Joyprakash Majumdar told reporters that the BJP and the CPI(M) have been unleashing a reign of terror in the rural belt of West Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls next year.
“They are targeting our popular leaders with the sole objective to lessen the strength of TMC ahead of the polls. The opposition gameplan will not succeed," he said.
BJP leader Dilip Ghosh claimed that two factions of the ruling TMC were involved in the murder.
(With PTI inputs)
