The murder of a 32-year-old BJP activist, Dulal Kumar, whose body was found hanging from a high-tension electricity pole at a village in Purulia’s Balrampur on Saturday, triggered fierce protests from the BJP, which accused the ruling Trinamool Congress of resorting to tactics of liquidating the Opposition. The government has transferred Purulia Superintendent of Police Joy Biswas. BJP has called a 12-hour bandh in the district on Sunday.

Only three days ago, the body of BJP youth wing activist Trilochan Mahato was found hanging from a tree in Supurdi village in the same police station area.

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Intriguingly, the first of the “killings” had occurred hours after Trinamool youth wing president and nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee declared at a party rally in the city that the ruling party would make Purulia “Opposition-free”.

Purulia district saw a close fight between the TMC and the BJP in the recent gram panchayat elections, with the two parties winning 839 and 645 GP seats, respectively. Out of the 38 zilla parishad seats, the Trinamool won 26 seats against the BJP’s tally of nine.

Dulal Kumar’s death created a commotion in the area and BJP supporters protested outside the local police station complaining that police were shielding the culprits.

READ | Another BJP worker’s body found hanging in West Bengal

Transfer orders were issued for SP Joy Biswas after he passed off Kumar’s death as a case of suicide, even though the state had ordered a CID probe into the two cases. He has been posted as the Commanding Officer, SAP, 9th Battalion.

According to sources, Kumar went missing Friday night, and his body was found hanging on Saturday. The BJP alleged that he had been murdered by Trinamool supporters for participating in a protest organised by the party.

“He was there during thana gherao programme to protest Trilochan Mahato’s murder. He returned to his house for a while before leaving again in the evening to attend to some personal work. He did not return. Calls made to his mobile number were disconnected,” said a local BJP activist.

An unsigned handwritten note in Bengali, found near Mahato’s body near his home in Balarampur, had stated that he was “punished for working for the BJP” during the recent rural polls in the state, a senior district police officer had said.

No such note was found near the place where Kumar’s body was found hanging, the SP had said, before he was removed later in the day.

BJP president Amit Shah said in a tweet: “Distressed to know about yet another killing of BJP karyakarta Dulal Kumar in Balarampur, West Bengal. This continued brutality and violence in the land of West Bengal is shameful and inhuman. Mamata Banerjee’s govt has completely failed to maintain law and order in the state.”

Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’ Brien tweeted: “We strongly condemn this despicable killings. All angles must be probed. The perpetrators of this heinous act must be punished. What role did Jharkhand border have to play? What elements of Bajrang Dal, Maoist or BJP involved? Let the truth be found out through proper investigation.”

Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said at a press conference the State Election Commission had become “Mamata Election Commission”.

Trashing the charge that the Centre was going slow on the Sarada and Narada cases, he said it was only a matter of time till the people involved in these cases land up in prison.