TMC MLA murder: Bengal BJP leader Mukul Roy files anticipatory bail plea

New Delhi, Feb 12: BJP leader Mukul Roy on Tuesday filed anticipatory bail petition in Calcutta High Court, apprehending arrest in the alleged murder of TMC MLA Satyajit Biswas of Krishnaganj.

Roy is a former Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha and was earlier with the TMC. He was also the Railway Minister in Manmohan Singh's government.

Responding to the development, Roy said that it is "very sad that he (Biswas) was killed" and that "politics of killing is not BJP's style of politics".

"In Bengal, there is huge infighting in TMC, and on directions of Mamata Banerjee they are putting blame on the BJP... I demand an independent and fair investigation..." Roy said.

On Sunday, TMC MLA Satyajit Biswas was shot dead while he was attending a programme on the eve of Saraswati Puja. The TMC has been accusing the BJP of murdering Biswas. The West Bengal Police has arrested two people in the case so far and suspended the local police in-charge of the area where the murder took place.

The incident occurred around 8.00 pm when 41-year-old Biswas, representing Krishnaganj constituency in the assembly, along with his party workers, were at the Saraswati puja marquee at Phoolbari in the Hanskhali police station area in the district bordering Bangladesh.

The MLA was immediately taken to a local hospital where doctors announced him "brought dead".

The police were suspecting that two assailants were present at the spot and one of them fired at him.

The ruling TMC had alleged that it was a planned attack by the BJP. Denying these allegations, the BJP has however claimed that it was the result of the ruling party's infighting.

Shortly after the incident, a high-level inquiry was ordered into the killing, the police said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed the party leaders to stand beside the family of the victim, he said.

Claiming that the attack was a conspiracy by the BJP, TMC Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said those involved in it would be punished after a full-fledged inquiry.

Chatterjee said the saffron party was trying to create disturbances ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and resorted to politics of murder by singling out leaders having mass bases.

"It was a pre-planned murder by the BJP. They have hired goons to carry out the murder," the party's in-charge of Nadia district Anubrata Mondal alleged.

BJP's state unit President Dilip Ghosh denied the charges and claimed that the killing might be the result of infighting in the TMC.

"The allegations are baseless. The BJP is not at all involved in the case. Those who are blaming us are actually trying to hide their own sins," Ghosh said. Roy had also termed the allegations as baseless.

This report was updated to incorporate reactions from Mukul Roy.