Protest bandh against Ram's murder slows life down to a crawl in Chinsurah

Kolkata: Inspector-in-charge of Chinsurah police station Nirupam Ghosh has been transferred to DIB in Barasat police district, following the murder of Trinamool Congress leader Dilip Ram. Arijit Dasgupta, who was posted at the missing persons' bureau in Kalimpong, will be the new IC of Chinsurah.

Ram was shot dead by some miscreants at Bandel railway station on Saturday morning. Chinsurah, the administrative headquarter of Hooghly district, on Sunday saw a complete shutdown with most of the shops closing their shutters following a 24-hour bandh called by the district Trinamool Congress leaders to protest against the murder of Ram.

Apart from being a part of Trinamool Congress, Ram had been a railway employee as well. The shops at Bandel Bazaar, Balir More, Chawk Bazaar, Rabindra Nagar Bazaar and Khadua Bazaar also remained closed, causing inconveniences to people.

Many local residents had to go to outside markets to buy various items in the morning. However, a few tea stalls in some places remained open. People who intended to go to different places also faced difficulties as no long distance buses and trekkers were available at the Chinsurah main bus stand.

A few auto-rickshaws and e-rickshaws, however, ferried passengers between places. Some of them allegedly tried to charge the passengers arbitrarily, taking advantage of the bandh.

Police officers from the Chandannagore Police Commissionerate and the railway police on Sunday met the family members of the victim. They have collected the victim's mobile phone for examination.

Ritu Singh, wife of the deceased, told police that he had been receiving threat calls for the past few days. The family members of the victim demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident.

Ritu alleged on Saturday that Lala Paswan and his brother Biju had killed her husband. Both of them have been absconding since the incident took place.

The BJP hatched the blueprint of the murder to create disturbance in peaceful areas, alleged the top Trinamool Congress leaders of the district. A greater movement will be launched to protest against the BJP's reign of terror, stated the TMC leaders.

Meanwhile, police have detained one person in connection with the murder. According to the preliminary investigation, police suspect that the miscreants had conducted recce a number of times before committing the crime.

The investigating officers also suspect that the assailants were hiding among the commuters waiting on the platform. Police are carrying out a probe to identify the accused. Raids are being conducted to nab the culprits.

The victim was shot in the head by criminals allegedly backed by the saffron party. The incident occurred when he was waiting to catch a local train at Bandel Junction railway station in Hooghly at around 10 am.