BJP leader shot dead in West Bengal, Vijayvargiya demands CBI inquiry
Kolkata: A local BJP leader in West Bengal was shot dead on Sunday by two bike-borne assailants near Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district, police said.
The duo opened fire at Manish Sukla, a local councillor, on B T Road in the evening, following which he was taken to a private hospital, where he was declared brought dead, they said.
The BJP leadership blamed the Trinamool Congress for the incident, but the ruling party has rubbished the accusation.
"It is shameful that the TMC has now started politics of annihilation of political opponents. We don't have any faith in local police as this happened in front of the police station. We want a CBI inquiry," BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.
BJP MP Arjun Singh also held the TMC responsible for Shukla's "killing" and claimed that shots were fired at him from a carbine.
Shukla, who switched over to the saffron party last year, was considered to be close to Singh.
Senior TMC leader Nirmal Ghosh said the incident was a result of infighting within the BJP and allegations against his party were baseless.
A huge police contingent was rushed to the spot after Shukla was gunned down around 9.30 pm.
"We have started an investigation and will look at all possible angles," a senior police officer said.
The BJP has called a 12-hour bandh in Barrackpore area on Monday in protest against the incident.
Meanwhile, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed concern over the law and order situation in the state and summoned the Additional Chief Secretary, Home, and the DGP on Monday morning.
"ACS Home @MamataOfficial and DGP @WBPolice have been summoned at 10 am tomorrow in the wake of worsening law and order situation leading to the dastardly killing of Manish Shukla, Councillor, Titagarh Municipality in political party office," Dhankhar said in a tweet.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
