Kolkata: BJP supporters allegedly beat to death the father of a CJP member in Bankura’s Indas. According to the deceased’s son Abdul Hafiz, his house was attacked on Thursday and his father was beaten up while trying to save him. After his release from hospital that evening, 50-year-old Sk Mohammad Mafik was assaulted again. Mafik succumbed to his injuries at Burdwan Medical College on Saturday night.Eight people, including a BJP functionary, have been arrested after a complaint filed by the victim’s wife, Hasina Begum. Claiming BJP had nothing to do with the attack, CM Suvendu Adhikari said, “All of them were miscreants and action will be taken per the law.”Demanding the immediate arrests of all responsible, CJP founder Abhijit Dipke posted on X: “A CJP team will visit West Bengal and ensure that Abdul and his family get justice.” CJP has called for an assembly at Indas police station on Monday while Congress observed Sunday as a ‘black day’. The CJP team will consist of co-convener Ashutosh Ranka, Vijay Reddy Mallangi and Ankit Bhardwaj among others.Contacted on the phone, Hafiz, who had participated in the July protests in Jantar Mantar against the NEET paper leak and has been active on social media since, said he has been facing threats from some BJP supporters since his return to his home at Karishunda village. “I was trying to raise questions about the facilities at our local primary school. This enraged a section of BJP supporters. That led to Thursday’s attack.”After the first attack on Mafik, he could not be taken to hospital for at least two hours, as the attackers gheraoed his house, Hafiz said. Even as Hafiz took his father to Indas Hospital, the group of attackers followed them. After Mafik’s discharge from hospital, some of the attackers allegedly forced the father and son into a car and took them to a deserted place where they were beaten up again. While the duo managed to return home, Mafik’s condition continued to worsen and he was taken to hospital again. By that time, Hafiz had left for a relative’s place.“Hafiz was away when his mother took his father to Burdwan Medical College. Mafik died before Hafiz could reach hospital,” said local Congress neta Akib Javed.Hafiz claimed that they could not file a police complaint before Sunday afternoon, with alleged BJP supporters laying siege to their house. Ratna Singh, CJP legal affairs head, claimed in an X post that while she had made social media posts about the incident tagging West Bengal Police, it was ignored.Additional SP Krishanu Roy said, “Police moved immediately after receiving the complaint and eight people involved in the incident have been arrested. Searches are on to trace the remaining accused.”In a social media post, Ranka said: “Abdul’s only mistake was that he wanted to get his village school repaired.”AISA’s Neha Bora, one of the prominent faces of the Jantar Mantar protest, wrote on X: “A citizen asked questions. BJP answered with a mob and a murder. Abdul went out to conduct a social audit of his local govt school. His house was gheraoed by 100–150 BJP goons. His father was attacked and murdered. This is a communal attack. This is political terror.”Assuring strong police action, state minister Agnimitra Paul said, “Being a BJP worker does not give licence to anyone to commit illegalities. This govt is different. It will act strongly.”Junior Union education minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “A lot of people from Bengal had been part of the Delhi agitation… Who has been assaulted? This allegation needs to be probed, whether it is a property dispute or something else.”While saying that he was yet to know about the details of the incident, BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said, “No BJP worker would be involved in such a gruesome incident. Hundreds of our workers were killed in the past few years and we understand the pain. However, let the law take its own course,” he said.SUCI (Communist) state secretary Chandidas Bhattacharya said, “After coming to office, BJP had promised good governance. Are these the examples of that good governance? We demand an immediate end to this rule of miscreants everywhere. Additionally, we demand exemplary punishment for the culprits involved in the Bankura incident.”
