Fresh violence was reported on Thursday from West Bengal’s Basirhat region in North 24 Parganas as mobs continued to clash over a derogatory Facebook post, according to Hindustan Times. According to reports, the mob set shops on fire and vandalised public property.
Meanwhile, one 65-year-old Kartik Ghosh, a resident of Bhyabla in Basirhat subdivision, died of stab injuries. This was the first death caused by the communal violence that erupted on Sunday. Ghosh was attacked on Wednesday afternoon when returning home from the market, according to Hindustan Times.
After Ghosh’s death was announced, a scuffle broke out between Bharatiya Janata Party workers and Trinamool Congress supporters on RG Kar Hospital premises. TMC supporters allegedly attempted to prevent BJP workers from meeting Ghosh’s family, BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya told Hindustan Times.
President of BJP’s West Bengal unit Dilip Ghosh claimed that Ghosh was the ward president of the party in Basirhat. However, Ghosh’s sons claimed that their father was not involved with any political party.
Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to send a team of three MPs – Meenakshi Lekhi, Satpal Singh and Om Mathur – and national general secretary Vijayvargiya to Basirhat on Friday for an “investigation”, reported ANI. The team is supposed to submit its report to party President Amit Shah.
The Mamata Banerjee government has reportedly declined the Centre’s offer of additional four companies of paramilitary forces in the North 24 Parganas, claiming the situation has returned to normal. No new clashes were reported from Baduria, the epicentre of the violence, on Thursday, according to Hindustan Times.
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