Bankura Trinamool Congress leader murder: Police start probe

After the primary investigation, the district police learnt that the assailants had gone towards Bankura Town. They did not barge in the area in any car or motor bike, but came on foot to gun Mahato down. Then, the killers made a run towards the main road and took a mini truck to escape towards Bankura Town. The investigators also learnt that a mini-truck which was waiting roadside took those killers off from the site.

“Many locals alleged to us that it was a handiwork of Maoists, who have regrouped in this area. We have also started a parallel investigation to find out if there was any Maoist link in this case. But it is now very premature to comment on this,” said the investigating officer.

Mahato, one of the popular leaders in the area, was shot dead by miscreants in front of his party office at Raipur in Bankura on Thursday night. He was sitting in a chair in front of party office when some miscreants came at the spot and shot him from the point blank range. His party colleagues found him lying in a pool of blood. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead.

The district Trinamool Congress leaders alleged that the Maoists could have been involved in the incident. “The assailants were well aware of the locality and knew how to quickly escape from the spot,” the investigating officer added.

Meanwhile in another case, Trinamool Congress’s Ketugram MLA Sekh Sahonawez was attacked by some miscreants at the party office. Police said, Sahonawez was sitting at a party office at Ketugram and watching television. Some gun-toting miscreants barged into the office and tried to shot him dead. The MLA managed to escape from there, but the miscreants ransacked the party office and looted valuables.