Trinamool Congress Leader Murdered: A Tale of Political Violence and Factional Feud

In a shocking incident, Mintu Sheikh, a 45-year-old local leader of the Trinamool Congress, was brutally murdered in the village of Ketugram in East Burdwan district late on Sunday night. The murder occurred just hours before the fourth phase of the ongoing general election began on Monday morning.

Mintu, a booth president and core committee member of the local gram panchayat, was attacked by a group of unidentified goons while he was returning home at Chenchuri village in Ketugram. The assailants hacked him with sharp weapons and later threw crude bombs at him to ensure his death.

On Monday, the police arrested two local residents — civic volunteer Bhulon Sheikh and toto driver Shamsur Sheikh — in connection with the murder. “The two were produced today (Monday) before the Katwa subdivisional court that sent the duo in police custody for seven days,” said a police officer.

The murder has sparked a political blame game. Trinamool leaders accused the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, of orchestrating the murder. Rabindranath Chatterjee, Trinamool’s East Burdwan district president, said, “Mintu was one of our active party workers and a local leader. The CPM-backed goons who had targeted him for the past few months killed him brutally. We demand the police to take stringent action against those involved in this brutality.”

However, the victim’s wife, Tuhina Khatun, initially claimed that her husband was killed due to a factional feud within the Trinamool Congress. “My husband was killed by goons who were hired by local leaders. This is because of TMC’s factional feud,” she told reporters. Later, in her police complaint, she aligned with the party’s stance and stated that her husband was killed by CPM-backed goons.

CPM leaders have denied the allegations. “We don’t believe in violence. The person was killed by his party colleagues and his wife endorsed it,” said CPM leader Achinta Mallik.

The incident has cast a shadow over the electoral process in the region. Ketugram, although located in the East Burdwan district, is part of the Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency that voted on Monday in the fourth phase of the election. The brutal murder just hours before the polls has raised serious concerns about the safety and security of political workers in the state.