TMC, Congress councillors shot dead in separate incidents in West Bengal

Kolkata, Mar 13: Two elected councillors of the TMC and Congress were shot dead in separate incidents in Panihati and Jhalda areas of West Bengal on Sunday, police said. Anupam Dutta, the TMC councillor of ward number eight of Panihati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district, was shot at from a close range by unidentified motorcycle-borne youths while he was visiting a park on North Station Road in Agarpara in the evening, a police officer said.

The councillor sustained serious head injuries and was rushed to a private hospital in the area where doctors declared him brought dead, he said, adding that a police contingent has been deployed as the situation was tense. In Jhalda Municipality of Purulia district, four-time Congress councillor Tapan Kandu was shot dead by unidentified assailants, another police officer said. The councillor was shot at by three motorcycle-borne youths when he went for a walk near his residence in his ward number two in the evening, he said.

Kandu, who slumped to the ground, was lifted up by locals even as the assailants escaped the spot. He was rushed to a private hospital in Ranchi in neighbouring Jharkhand, where doctors declared him brought dead. Kandu had won from ward number two of Jhalda Municipality for the fourth time in last month's civic polls and was a popular leader in the area, Congress sources said.

The verdict of the voters threw a hung board after recent polls in Jhalda Municipality, with the Congress and Trinamool Congress having won five seats each and independents securing two seats. In Panihati, TMC secured a majority by bagging 33 of the 35 wards. Naihati's TMC MLA Partha Bhowmick said, "Anupam Dutta was a popular figure in the area and this was a pre-planned murder. I won't immediately blame the BJP but this is true that he had defeated a big-shot of the saffron party in the area and earned their wrath." Purulia's Congress leader Nepal Mahato said that the murder of his party councillor Tapan Kandu was political, and that he would be visiting the area soon. PTI