KOLKATA: The gruesome murder of a school teacher, his pregnant wife and their five-year-old son in Murshidabad district took on a political colour after both the central and state leadership of the BJP identified the man as a worker of the RSS—the saffron camp’s ideological mentor.
In a Tweet, BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra shared a video of the house in which bloodstains could be seen on the floor.
"Warning: Gruesome video. This has shaken my conscience ... a RSS worker Sh Bandhu Prakash Pal, his eight months pregnant wife & his kid were brutally slaughtered in West Bengals Murshidabad. Not a word by the liberals. Not a letter by 59 liberals to Mamata. Nauseating Selectivism!" Patra tweeted.
ALSO READ: RSS activist, pregnant wife, minor son hacked to death in Bengal's Murshidabad
Governor, West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankar also expressed shock over the brutal killing of Pal (40), his wife Beauty (30) and Angan (5), who were found hacked to death inside their Jiaganj residence.
"I am shocked, distressed and pained at the inhuman brutal killing of a school teacher, his wife and his son in Murshidabad district. This is a critical reflection of the state of affairs and the law and order of West Bengal. I call upon the law enforcement agencies to pursue the culprits and bring them to book," Dhankar said.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Thursday said the "inaction" by West Bengal police is boosting the confidence of criminals in the state and urged the Union Home Ministry to intervene.
Taking suo-motu cognisance of the killings, the NCW has written to Mamata Banerjee and the director-general of police investigate the case on priority and arrest the culprits immediately. In a press note, NCW chairperson Rekha Verma said the commission is "perturbed" by in the incident.
The triple murder was detected on Wednesday morning by the Pal family’s milkman. "The assassin was inside the house when Rajib Das, the milkman, came. Rajib screamed on seeing the bodies lying in pool of blood. He saw the suspect, in black trousers and T-shirt, fleeing through the rear gate of the Pal’s house," said a police officer.
ALSO READ | RSS worker murder: BJP leader Rahul Sinha slams Bengal government over law and order situation
A section of the local residents, who saw the suspect running away, told police that he was unknown to them. No arrest was made in connection with the incident till late on Thursday night.
Pal was found on a bed, his son Angan was on the floor of the same room and wife Beauty was in the bed in an adjoining room.
The Bengal police, however, are yet to ascertain whether the killings had any political motive.
"Preliminary investigations revealed Pal had borrowed money from local money lenders in the recent past. We are yet to ascertain whether a dispute related to a financial transaction with the local money lenders triggered the incident. We are exploring all possible angles," said Tanmoy Roy Chowdhury, deputy inspector general of Burdwan range.
BJP’s national Secretary Rahul Sinha demanded the immediate resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the home minister of the state.
"Our party workers are getting murdered since before the Lok Sabha polls and the deadly attack is still going on," alleged Sinha
The Bengal BJP alleged at least 80 party workers were killed in political violence across the state in the past few years. The party’s working president J. P. Nadda participated in a mass tarpan (offering water to deceased’s souls) organised last month in Kolkata.
"Attacks on our workers were intensified before and after the Lok Sabha polls. Our workers were also killed before the panchayat elections in 2018. After the Lok Sabha results were declared, 14 BJP workers were shot dead in Basirhat and Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituencies," said Sinha.
The first murder of an 18-year-old BJP worker, Trilochan Mahato, caught national attention after the youth’s body was found hanging from a tree in Purulia after last year’s panchayat elections.
A handwritten note from nearby said, "This is for doing BJP from age 18. Been trying to kill you since the vote. Failed. Today you are dead."
A similar message scrawled on his white T-shirt.