A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that a party worker was killed in a clash with police during the "Uttarkanya Abhijan" in Siliguri on Monday, West Bengal police on Tuesday said that the post-mortem report of the victim revealed that he died of "shotgun injuries", and that they do not use shotguns.
Yesterday, while calling a 12-hour bandh in North Bengal on December 8, BJP national general secretary and state in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya alleged that a "nexus of police and Trinamool Congress (TMC) goons" was behind the death of party worker Ulen Roy who died during the "Uttarkanya Abhijan", called by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
Vijayvargiya told , "This is police's Nadirshahi (cruelty) and the anarchy of Mamata Banerjee government. There is a nexus between the police and TMC goons. Police were using tear gas and goons were hurling country bombs."
The police in an official statement today said that there was "a mala fide intention to create violence by the use of firearms" and CID West Bengal has been asked to investigate the case.
"As per the post-mortem report the "death was due to the effects of shotgun injuries." Police do not use shotguns. It's obvious that during yesterday's protest in Siliguri, armed persons were brought and they fired from firearms," the police said.
They added that the victim received pallet injuries from a shotgun fired from a close range in the protest.
"The truth will come out and strong action will be taken against all those who planned and executed the heinous crime," the West Bengal police added.
The streets of Siliguri remained deserted today in support of the BJP's bandh called to protest the death of the party worker yesterday.
Vijayvargiya also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation enquiry into Roy's death.
On Monday, BJP workers fought a pitched battle with the police in Siliguri after they were halted from moving past barricades at two points near branch secretariat Uttarkanya here during their rally in protest against the TMC government's "misrule".
During the clash, one party worker succumbed to injuries, following which BJYM national president Tejasvi Surya attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by terming the death as "murder" committed by the state police.
( With inputs from ANI )
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