Trinamool Congress worker shot dead in Kolkata ahead of the polls; four arrested

A Trinamool Congress worker has been shot dead in Kolkata ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. Kolkata Police have arrested four people in connection with the killing. Tensions also rose in the Basanti area of South 24 Parganas district, where a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) poll rally was allegedly attacked by local TMC workers.

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The deceased, Rahul Dey, was shot dead in clashes that erupted in south Kolkata’s Baghajatin area on Wednesday (March 25) night. Another person, Jeet Mukherjee, was injured in the clashes and is under treatment.

Locals in the neighbourhood reportedly heard gunshots late in the night and alerted police, who later found the two men in a pool of blood.

TMC’s Jadavpur candidate, Debabrata Majumdar, visited the spot and asked the police to seal off the under-construction building beside the shootout site.

Locals of the Baghajatin area have complained that the deceased, the injured, and those arrested had a criminal history. It is not known whether the murder was political or followed a clash between gangs.

Clashes in Basanti 

In a related development, as parties continued to amp up their poll campaigns, clashes erupted between the BJP and TMC in Basanti during a BJP rally. A video of the clashes has gone viral on social media.

Police and central forces were dispatched to control the situation. A few people were also detained at the spot.