The body of Hemtabad BJP MLA Debendra Nath Roy was found hanging in front of a tea shop in Uttar Dinajpur district on Monday morning, triggering allegations of murder by his family members and the BJP leadership.
Mr. Roy won the 2016 Assembly polls on a CPI(M) ticket and joined the BJP in 2019.
The body was found in the courtyard of the shop which was close to about 1 km from his home in Hemtabad. The family members said some people on motorbikes had called him out at 1 a.m. after which he did not return.
“A suicide note has been recovered. Prima facie it appears to be case of suicide. We are looking into the case from all angles,” Sumit Kumar, Uttar Dinjapur SP, said. The MLA’s wife asked why the hand of the MLA was tied if it was a case of suicide.
Similar incidents in Purulia: Dilip Ghosh
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh demanded a CBI probe saying the party workers were killed and hanged in Purulia district before the rural polls in a similar manner. The BJP leadership took out a protest rally in Kolkata against the incident. Mr. Ghosh called for a 12-hour bandh of north Bengal on Tuesday in protest against the death. “This is a deaf and mute government. We have to make noise for it to hear.. If someone has to come and see what lawlessness and gundaraj is, they can see it in Bengal,” Mr. Ghosh said. The BJP leadership also met Governor Jagdeep Dhnakhar in the Raj Bhavan and raised the issue.
“It is clear that he has been murdered. Why will someone go out of his home at 1 a.m. in the night. There are names of some Trinamool Congress leaders emerging. If this is the state of affairs where an MLA can be killed, we can think what has become of the law and order,” Mr. Ghosh said.
Shocking, deplorable: Nadda
BJP national president J.P. Nadda described the incident as “shocking and deplorable”. “The suspected heinous killing of Roy is extremely shocking and deplorable. This speaks of the gundaraj & failure of law and order in the Mamta govt. People will not forgive such a govt.. We strongly condemn this,” he said.
Mr. Dhankhar also called for an “impartial probe to unravel the truth and blunt political violence”.
“Political violence and vendetta @MamataOfficial shows no signs of abating. Death of Debendra Nath Roy, Hemtabad MLA-Uttar Dinajpur District, raises serious issues including allegations of murder. Need for a thorough impartial probe to unravel truth and blunt political violence,” Mr. Dhankhar said.
The Trinamool Congress leadership said the death was a matter of investigation.
“It is a case of unnatural death and a matter of investigation. Whether he committed suicide, why did he come out of his home at 1 a.m., everything is a subject of investigation,” Kanhaiyalal Agarwal, president of party Uttar Dinjapur district, said.
Suicide prevention helpline in Kolkata: 033-2463 7401/2463 7432
