Shukla wanted to rejoin TMC, says Firhad Hakim; questions Arjun Singh's role

Kolkata: A day after the death of BJP leader Manish Shukla, senior Trinamool Congress leader Firhad Hakim on Monday raised questions whether sharp-shooters from outside the state were engaged to kill him on Sunday evening at Titagarh in North 24-Parganas.

"The weapon that was used for killing Shukla is usually not used by criminals of our state. So were criminals from outside the state roped in for murdering young Shukla? We have seen that after the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, there were some criminals from outside who were engaged in violence in Arjun Singh's Barrackpore constituency. It was only after one of the criminals got killed in a police encounter that the rest fled away," said Hakim.

He also raised questions over Arjun Singh's role as he left for Kolkata just before the incident.

"Singh and Shukla were in the same vehicle and after a phone call from a senior BJP leader, Singh left for Kolkata. Is it a coincidence that the shoot-out occurred soon after Singh left for Kolkata. Almost all non-elected BJP leaders have CRPF security or bodyguards. But no one was there when Shukla was shot dead. Is it not a conspiracy," questioned Hakim.

He added that Shukla was with Trinamool Congress before the elections and while he campaigned for TMC's Barrackpore candidate Dinesh Trivedi, Shukla had accompanied him. "He was intimidated by Singh and he shifted to BJP. He was in discomfort in the saffron party and was trying to shift to TMC," he said.

Hakim expressed his hope that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will unearth the cause of murder and will punish those involved in the incident. "This is not Uttar Pradesh where criminals are killed in encounters. Here police arrest them, produce them before the court and steps are taken as per law," he added. The same will happen in this case as well.

Police have detained a few persons in connection with Shukla's murder who are being interrogated. Meanwhile, a separate case has been initiated in connection with the attack on the police force and 12 persons have been arrested.

One of the most important posers, as pointed out by Hakim, is that though Shukla moved around with his armed security guards, none was there on Sunday when the incident happened. Out of the seven security personnel, two were on leave since long whereas the other five went on leave all of a sudden. Shukla was earlier booked in several cases on charges of attempt to murder, extortion, assaulting police and others. It is suspected that someone from the complainants against Shukla might be involved in the murder.

In an unprecedented development, the state BJP leadership on Monday decided to take Shukla's body to Raj Bhavan in protest against what it called "the murder of democracy".