The body of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Debendra Nath Roy was found hanging in front of a tea shop in Uttar Dinajpur district on Monday morning, triggering allegations of murder by his family members and the BJP leadership.
Mr. Roy, MLA from Hemtabad won the 2016 Assembly polls on a Communist Party of India (Marxist) ticket. In 2019, he joined the BJP.
The body was found hanging in the courtyard of the shop which was close to about 1 km from his home in Hemtabad. The family members of the MLA said that some people on motorbikes called him out at 1 a.m. after which he did not return.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh demanded a high-level probe into the incident. “It is clear that he has been murdered. Why will someone go out of his home at 1 a.m. in the night. There are names of some Trinamool Congress leaders emerging. If this is the state of affairs where an MLA can be killed, we can think what has become of the law and order situation in the State,” Mr. Ghosh added.
Shocking, deplorable: Nadda
BJP national president J.P. Nadda described the incident as “shocking and deplorable”. “The suspected heinous killing of Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad in West Bengal, is extremely shocking and deplorable. This speaks of the Gunda Raj & failure of law and order in the Mamta govt. People will not forgive such a govt. in the future. We strongly condemn this,” Mr. Nadda said.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar also called for an “impartial probe to unravel the truth and blunt political violence”.
“Political violence and vendetta @MamataOfficial shows no signs of abating. Death of Debendra Nath Roy, Hemtabad MLA-Uttar Dinajpur District, raises serious issues, including allegations of murder. Need for a thorough impartial probe to unravel truth and blunt political violence,” Mr. Dhankhar said.
The Trinamool Congress leadership said that the death was a matter of investigation.
“It is a case of unnatural death and a matter of investigation. Whether he committed suicide, why did he come out his home at 1 p.m., everything is a subject of investigation,” Kanhaiyalal Agarwal, Trinamool Congress district president of Uttar Dinjapur district, said.
