KOLKATA: The autopsy report of BJYM activist Arjun Chourasia, conducted by Command Hospital here and submitted to Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, indicated that he died by hanging and the ligature mark on his neck was ante-mortem in nature.
The report submitted the post-mortem report in a sealed cover before a division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava.
The Trinamool Congress was quick to launch an attack on the BJP which had been holding demonstrations after the body of the activist was found hanging in an abandoned house as well as an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah who had described it as a "political murder".
Shah had visited Kashipur and demanded a CBI probe into Chourasia's death, claiming a culture of violence and a fear psychosis prevailed in West Bengal.
"The union home minister had called it a political murder even before the probe was over. He should now apologise to the people for trying to tarnish the image of the state," senior TMC leader and minister Shashi Panja said.
The TMC leader added, "The BJP is continuously maligning the people of Bengal. This stems from its failure to win the assembly election."
Reacting to the TMC remarks, the state BJP unit said it would not be right to comment on a sub-judice matter.
The autopsy was conducted by a team of experts constituted by the head of Command Hospital, a defence healthcare establishment, as per an order of the court passed on Friday.
The bench noted in its order that the findings relating to the cause of death of Chourasia is "hanging" and the ligature mark on his neck is "ante-mortem".
The post-mortem report was handed over by the court to Advocate General S N Mookherjee representing the West Bengal government. It directed that the viscera sample be handed over to police authority concerned.
BJP leader and lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal had submitted earlier to the court that the family does not have faith in the investigation being conducted by the Kolkata Police, which has already formed a special investigation team to probe Chourasia's death.
Claiming that Chourasia was one of many BJP workers who had to leave their homes during post-poll violence and had recently returned to his residence, Tibrewal also prayed before the court that the case be handed over to the CBI in accordance with its earlier order that directed probe by the central agency in cases of murders, rapes and attempts to rape that took place after the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections.
AG submitted that the police has formed an SIT to investigate the matter, treating it as a case of unnatural death. The bench directed that the matter will be taken up for hearing again on May 19.