West Bengal: Two arrested in BJP leader Manish Shukla's murder case, police suspect old enmity

The arrested persons have been identified as Md. Khurram Khan and Gulab Sheikh.

West Bengal Police has said preliminary investigations have found Shukla, who was a BJP councillor, may have been killed due to personal enmity and not political reasons as contrary to the claims by the saffron party.

"Primary opinion of post mortem of BJP leader Manish Shukla reveals he had suffered seven bullet injuries on his face and chest. As many as seven bullets all fired from a 7mm firearm were lodged inside his body," sources in the police said. 

While the state has ordered a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe into the incident, BJP demands an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Shukla, who was a close aide of BJP MP Arjun Singh, was shot at Titagarh around 20 kms away from the state capital Kolkata.

Immediately after the murder, the BJP launched a political attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) accusing the latter of indulging in violence in the state.

BJP's state president Dilip Ghosh trained his guns at the TMC tweeting, "The horrific murder of BJP’s youth leader, lawyer and former councillor Manish Shukla is reprehensible. This is an example of the bloody politics of Paschim Banga under TMC. Can any justice be expected from this state Government?"

Making a startling claim, Singh said, "Police are completely involved in the incident. The kind of arm which has been used in the murder is dedicated for the police."

In an all out attack on the TMC government and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "I want to ask Mamata Banerjee, is this the democracy in Bengal?"

"Murder has become a new normal in West Bengal," he also said.

However, all charges have been refuted by the TMC which has denied its role behind the murder.

West Bengal Minister and senior TMC leader, Firhad Hakim, said, "Manish Shukla was forced to join BJP at gunpoint by Arjun Singh and now he was sending fillers to return to the TMC."

Shukla, a former TMC man, had joined the saffron party after the 2019 General Elections.