West Bengal: 8 burnt alive by mob after murder of panchayat leader in Birbhum
KOLKATA- At least eight people burnt alive and bodies were found from burnt-down homes in a village in West Bengal, hours after a local Trinamool panchayat leader was killed in a bomb attack Monday night.
Soon after he was declared dead at the hospital, several people set ablaze homes in his village Bogtui.
Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has set up a three-member team to probe the incident. These members are IPS officers Gyanwant Singh, Meeraj Khalid and Sanjay Singh.
Local media has reported that there was tension in the Bogtui village of Rampurhat since Monday, when the Barshal Gram Panchayat vice-president Bhadu Sheikh was allegedly murdered.
The houses which were set on fire are 200 metres from Sheikh’s house, the Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika has reported in its online edition.
Reports have said that seven to eight houses were found completely burnt in the fire.
The ruling TMC has sent a three-member MLA team led by minister Firhad Hakim to the spot to take stock of the situation.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankar has asked for an urgent update on the incident and opposition politicians have tweeted against the violence.
BJP legislators walked out of the West Bengal assembly on Tuesday at the end of the first half of the day’s session demanding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee make a statement on the floor of the House on the matter.
BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh wanted to raise the issue in Zero Hour but was not allowed by Speaker Biman Banerjee who said it was not listed in the questions.
TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh has tweeted that the incident is “not related to politics” and is the result of a “local village strife”.
