https://www.india.com/west-bengal/independent-candidate-killed-bjp-worker-found-dead-as-pre-poll-violence-ravages-west-bengal-6152353/Independent Candidate Killed, BJP- employee found dead as pre-poll violence ravages West Bengal

Alfaz Halder, an independent candidate in the upcoming rural polls, was killed in a scuffle with TMC workers in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

New Delhi: A BJP worker was found dead, while an independent candidate was reportedly killed in a clash with workers from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) as violence raged in West Bengal ahead of the July 8 Panchayat elections in the stands.

Alfaz Halder, an independent candidate in the upcoming rural polls, was killed in a scuffle with TMC workers in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, India Today reports. Halder suffered serious injuries in the clash between TMC workers and some independent candidates on Wednesday. He was rushed to a local hospital and later on Thursday morning transferred to a medical facility in Kolkata, where he succumbed to injuries, the report said.

In a related incident earlier today, a BJP employee was found dead in a village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district. The late 48-year-old Dilip Mahara, a resident of the Muhammad Bazar bloc, was the vice president of Hinglo Gram Panchayat and the husband of an independent candidate who supported the BJP.

The BJP has accused the TMC of killing Mahara, but police said the motive and circumstances behind the murder are still being determined, the India Today report said.

The police said a case has been registered at the Muhammad Bazar police station and the murder of the BJP associate is under investigation, adding that no arrests have been made so far.

In another incident earlier in the day, four CPI(M) workers, including a candidate for the upcoming panchayat polls, suffered injuries in an attack by unidentified miscreants in Murshidabad. CPI(M) alleged that its workers were attacked by TMC workers who hurled crude bombs at them, injuring party candidate Zila Parishad, Badar Sheikh and others.

Widespread violence has marred West Bengal’s Panchayat polls, with more than a dozen people killed and several others injured in election-related clashes and attacks since the start of nominations on June 9.

A BJP leader, Bankim Hansda, was found dead in mysterious circumstances on Monday. Hansda’s body was recovered by police in the Bodo neighborhood of Purulia district.

In the wake of the escalating violence, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday formed a commission to look into the issue of peacekeeping and social inclusion in the state.