Kolkata: The communal violence in Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, claimed its first victim on Thursday with a 65-year-old dying of stab wounds. Riots have rocked Basirhat for the past three days over a controversial Facebook post.
Following the death, a scuffle broke out between BJP and Trinamul Congress supporters in front of the R.G. Kar Hospital premises, with senior BJP leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya and Dilip Ghosh trying to enter the hospital premises, seeking to stand by the family of the deceased. Trinamul Congress workers blocked the vehicles of Mr Vijayvargiya and Mr Ghosh. They said that the leaders' entry would disturb the patients inside the hospital. A team of three BJP MPs — Meenakshi Lekhi, Satpal Singh and Om Mathur — will visit Basirhat on Friday for an on-the-spot investigation, following which they will submit a report to party president Amit Shah.
According to the BJP, one Kartik Ghosh, a resident of Bhyabla in Basirhat subdivision, was allegedly attacked with sharp weapons on Wednesday when he was returning home from the market on a motorcycle. Kartik was rushed to R.G. Kar Medical College Hospital, where he died in the wee hours of Thursday.
“He was a worker of our party. We came here to offer condolence and meet his family members. But Trinamul Congress workers did not allow us to meet them,” said BJP’s general secretary said. He added that he would ask chief minister Mamata Banerjee why they were being stopped from meeting the family members instead of taking action against the rioters.
BJP state president claimed Ghosh was the ward president of the party in Basirhat. However, the two sons of the deceased, Provasish and Debasish, claimed that their father was not involved with any political party.
A large police team led by deputy commissioner (North) of Kolkata police rushed to the spot and was able to bring the situation under control after more than an hour. Trinamul Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee said, “They are claiming that the deceased is a BJP worker. What was he doing there? This proves that they are trying to incite violence in Darjeeling as well as in other areas."
A delegation from the state Congress and the state Left Front will also visit the areas that have seen violence.
