KOLKATA: After the autopsy report of BJYM activist Arjun Chourasia, conducted by the Command Hospital here, indicated that his death was by hanging, the ruling Trinamool Congress on Tuesday demanded an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah who had described it as a "political murder".
Shah should apologise to the people of the state for trying to defame the people of the state, the TMC said.
The hanging body of the BJYM worker was found in an abandoned railway quarter at Kashipur in north Kolkata on May 6 when the union home minister was on a visit to the state.
Shah had visited Kashipur and demanded a CBI probe into the death of Chourasia, claiming that a culture of violence and a fear psychosis was prevalent 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.
This is shameful that Shah, despite holding such a position in the union government, without an iota of evidence, has made such a baseless remark, Panja said.
"The BJP has no self-respect. It is continuously maligning the people of Bengal. This stems from its failure to win the assembly election," she said.
Reacting to the TMC remarks, the state BJP unit said it would not be right to comment on a sub-judice matter.
The autopsy on Chourasia's body was conducted at Command Hospital, a defence healthcare establishment, as per an order of the Calcutta High Court.
The autopsy report submitted to a division bench indicated that the cause of death is "hanging" and the ligature mark on his neck is "antemortem".
Meanwhile,
Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday met the victims of post-poll violence in the state, who came to him as part of a BJP delegation demanding compensation.
After the meeting, Dhankhar said if the families of the victims of Bogtui village where 10 people, mostly women, were burnt alive can get compensation, those affected by post-poll violence should receive it too.
He asked the state administration to stop "partisan politics".
The carnage in Bogtui in Birbhum district took place on March 21 this year soon after the murder of a local TMC leader, a number of BJP supporters were attacked allegedly by goons of the ruling party after the assembly election results were announced in May 2021.
State BJP leaders took the post-poll violence victims to Raj Bhavan where they, holding placards demanding compensation, sat on the stairs for some time.
The party also organised a demonstration on nearby Rani Rashmoni Road to protest against alleged reign of terror created by the TMC in the state.
"Violence cannot be a solution in democracy. It pains me that even after a year, the situation has not changed. The victims have been denied justice," the governor who shares a strained relationship with the state government said while addressing the media.
Referring to the compensation being disbursed to the family members of the Bogtui victims, Dhankhar wondered why those affected by the post-poll violence are yet to receive any financial relief.
"The financial compensation should be given to the victims of post-poll violence. The compensation in the Bogtui case was disbursed very swiftly. What had gone wrong in the case of post-poll violence? This partisan politics should stop immediately. Everybody should be treated equally," he said.
"I will speak to the chief minister on this issue," he said.
Dhankhar asserted that the incidents of post-poll violence is a "dark chapter" which maligned the image of West Bengal.
Earlier in the day, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and others participated in a demonstration against alleged violence taking place in the state.
Adhikari claimed that the TMC had attained power using a ladder built on the corpses of opposition party workers.
"If the TMC thinks they will go unpunished for the crime they have committed against humanity, they are living in a fool's paradise," he said.
Majumdar alleged that the TMC has let loose a reign of terror across the state.
"The way our cadres were killed and thousands were rendered homeless is unprecedented in the history of independent India. The BJP would continue to fight against the autocratic rule of the TMC," he said.
"So many of our workers were killed across the state after the last assembly polls, but none of the victims' families has got justice. The situation is getting worse in Bengal with every passing day," he said.
The TMC, however, slammed the BJP for allegedly trying to destabilise the peace prevailing in the state.
"The state's people have rejected them but they have no shame," senior TMC leader and minister Shashi Panja said.