BJP leader's body found inside party office in West Bengal, woman arrested
Kolkata, Nov 9: The body of a BJP leader was found inside the party office at Usthi in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, a police officer said on Saturday.
The deceased, Prithviraj Naskar, used to handle the social media account of the party in the district.
The BJP pointed an accusing finger at the TMC, while the police, after arresting a woman in connection with the killing, said the reason for the murder could be personal.
Naskar’s blood-soaked body was discovered at the party office on Friday night. His family members said he had been missing since November 5.
A senior police officer said the arrested woman confessed to having hit the deceased with sharp weapons resulting in his death.
"We are exploring the angle of the deceased having been involved in a relationship and any quarrel with the arrested person," he told reporters.
The officer said a police team broke open the front door and a collapsible gate locked from inside of the party office before finding the body. The suspected assailant must have escaped through a rear door.
Following a preliminary investigation and tracking of mobile phones, the woman was picked up from a nearby locality and during interrogation, she confessed that she committed the crime, the officer said.
It was being investigated if she was aided and abetted by anyone else, he said.
The BJP and TMC were engaged in a war of words following the murder.
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar told reporters that local TMC activists were behind the murder of Naskar as they wanted to frighten the saffron party's supporters in the area.
In a post on X, Majumdar said, “Our fight will continue until justice is served and the killers of martyr Prithviraj brought to light. BJP remains resolute in ending the bloodthirsty and oppressive rule of CM Mamata Banerjee in Bengal.”
The BJP state unit alleged in another X post that the party’s district social media convenor was abducted, tortured and murdered by TMC goons.
“The police ignored his family’s desperate pleas for help,” it claimed.
Senior TMC leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh claimed that the BJP knows the exact reason behind Naskar’s death but peddles falsehoods implicating the TMC.
Ghosh claimed in an X post that there are reports about the deceased having personal enmity with more than one person.
The injury in some parts of his body showed animosity and contempt of the assailant towards the man, the TMC leader claimed, expressing hope that the investigation would cover all these angles.
Meanwhile, Naskar's father claimed that his son had earned the wrath of some local TMC activists and the police after putting up placards demanding justice for the R G Kar hospital victim during the recent Durga Puja festival in the area.
"My son was warned of dire consequences by local TMC leaders for organising protests on the R G Kar issue during the festive season," the father said.
পশ্চিমবঙ্গকে রক্ষার তাগিদে দুর্বৃত্তদের বিরুদ্ধে লড়াইয়ে আবার শহীদ হলেন ভারতীয় জনতা পার্টির একজন সক্রিয় সৈনিক। তিনদিন নিখোঁজ থাকার পর আজ মথুরাপুর সাংগঠনিক জেলার সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া কনভেনর পৃথ্বীরাজ নস্করের নিথর দেহ উদ্ধার হয়েছে মন্দিরবাজারের দলীয় কার্যালয়ের ভিতর থেকে। কয়েকদিন… pic.twitter.com/9usI7au7WU
— Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) November 9, 2024
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
