Politics
Bengal BJP Leader Dies After Alleged Assault in Panihati
A local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Arup Saha, died on Saturday night in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district after an alleged assault by members of a rival group within the party. Police said Saha, the husband of BJP mandal secretary Ruma Saha, was attacked when he intervened in a dispute involving his wife. Ruma had stepped in when a group of party workers allegedly assaulted a local trader, Shankar Dey. After the altercation, Saha complained of chest pain and was taken to Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital, where he died, his wife said.
A district police officer, who requested anonymity, said no complaint had been lodged until Sunday morning. Ruma Saha explained that she had intervened after hearing that followers of a BJP youth wing leader were assaulting the trader. She said the assailants surrounded her and verbally abused her, and they hit her husband when he intervened. She returned home with her husband, who later died at the hospital.
Shankar Dey said he was hit and fell to the ground during the confrontation. Ruma Saha alleged that the assailants were followers of Nirmal Ghosh, a former Trinamool Congress MLA from Panihati who faces multiple criminal charges and was recently released on bail. Ghosh is also an accused in the rape and murder case involving the daughter of BJP MLA Ratna Debnath at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in 2024. Ghosh could not be contacted despite several attempts.
Debnath, who won the Panihati assembly seat for the BJP in May, told the media that “unwanted elements” continued to operate within the party despite repeated warnings. She said she had earlier requested the government to intervene and that politicians involved in illegal activities during the Trinamool Congress regime are still active in Panihati.
The incident comes amid repeated warnings from senior BJP leaders and ministers that party workers and leaders involved in organised crime, including extortion, would face action. State BJP leaders have alleged that Trinamool Congress leaders and their followers who joined the BJP after the assembly elections on May 4 continue to engage in extortion and intra‑party violence. West Bengal finance minister Swapan Dasgupta admitted on Saturday that extortion continued under the BJP government, saying, “Extortion is like the new normal. People’s confidence in the administration cannot be restored until it ends. I have stopped some extortions in my constituency but we have not been able to end it fully.”
On Friday, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya warned at an event organised by the party’s women’s wing that some police personnel were tacitly supporting illegal activities. He said, “Some (BJP) mandal presidents are thinking they are the police and some police personnel are thinking they are the mandal presidents. No lawlessness will be allowed. Identify those who are tarnishing the party and its flag and file FIRs.” He added that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who is also in charge of the police department, would ensure that those people land in jail.
The Trinamool Congress said Bhattacharya might have good intentions but the law and order situation had deteriorated under the BJP government. Kalyan Banerjee, a senior lawyer and five‑time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP from Sreerampur in Hooghly district, questioned how complaints could be registered if the police refused to accept them. He cited an instance from Sreerampur in which a woman was molested by BJP workers who also extorted money from her, but the police told her that it was impossible for them to register her complaint.
In a separate incident on Saturday, Koustav Bagchi, the BJP MLA from Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district, had two people arrested for allegedly selling domestic LPG cylinders illegally in his constituency. Bagchi said, “People who ran illegal businesses and gambling dens in Barrackpore during the Trinamool regime are still active.”