Kolkata: On a day when the Governor CV Ananda Bose expressed anguish over the violence surrounding panchayat polls, a Trinamool Congress leader was shot dead on Thursday late evening inside the party office at Adra in Purulia.
The deceased worker, Dhananjay Choubey who was the TMC Adhra town president, was reportedly sitting inside the party office when unidentified persons arrived there at 8:30 pm on a motorcycle and sprayed a volley of bullets at Choubey.
He is learnt to have collapsed at the spot. Choubey was taken to hospital but he succumbed to the injuries during treatment.
He suffered severe blood loss, it is learnt. Initial reports claim he was struck with three bullets.
Choubey’s bodyguard Shekhar Das who jumped to save him also received bullet injuries and is being treated at the hospital.
The incident led to panic in the area. Locals said it was a result of a factional feud while some said Choubey fell victim to gangwar.
However, the police is learnt to have initiated a probe. At the time of filing the report, the attackers were still not identified.
TMC MP Shantanu Sen said that the murder of the party worker reveals that Opposition parties, especially the BJP, are trying to create a tense situation by spreading havoc.
He said the police will track down the killers and bring them to the book.
The incident took place on a day when the Governor appealed for peace and said that violence must be rooted out of the soil of Bengal.
He said violence is not a fiction but a reality in this state. He said he will do everything to ensure peace is restored in the state and the bloodshed is brought to a stop.