A Trinamool Congress municipal councillor was injured after he was shot at inside a party office in a Kolkata suburb on Monday evening, PTI reported. The incident came a week after the murder of a Trinamool Congress MLA in Nadia district.
The councillor, Mithun Tikadar, represents ward number 20 in the Budge Budge municipality. Two unidentified men went inside the party office and shot him at point blank range, police said. They fled the spot after throwing crude bombs outside the office to scare off bystanders, The Telegraph reported.
Tikadar was taken to a private hospital, where his condition is critical, deputy chairman of the municipality, Gautam Dasgupta, told PTI. Tikadar was hit in the abdomen and chest.
A police investigation has started. The motive of the attack is not yet clear. The Trinamool Congress has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has denied any role, reported The Times of India.
Police have narrowed down a suspect but have not revealed his identity. The suspect has links to several complaints of extortion and intimidation in the area, and police are investigating whether he had a role, an unidentified police official told The Telegraph.
Budge Budge is a municipality in the South 24 Parganas district, and is less than 30 km from Kolkata.
Meanwhile, Abhijeet Pundari, the prime accused in the murder of Trinamool Congress MLA Satyajit Biswas was arrested from a train in West Midnapore’s Debra on Monday morning, reported The Telegraph. He had allegedly fired at Biswas on February 9.
Biswas was the legislator from Krishnagunj constituency. The party had blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party, particularly the followers of Mukul Roy, for the crime. The Calcutta High Court last week asked police to refrain from arresting Roy till March 7.
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