india

Updated: Sep 11, 2019 20:18 IST

The body of murdered Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Swarup Gorai was cremated on Wednesday in Bengal’s West Burdwan district capping three days of drama during which his wife alleged that the police ‘stole’ his body to prevent them from taking it to the party office in Kolkata.

The body was cremated in Katwa, 45 km away from Ramkrishnapur, the native village of the deceased in Birbhum district. On Tuesday, BJP workers had blocked roads in Birbhum district in a bid to take possession of the body.

The deceased’s widow China and his father Bhuvan Gorai demanded investigation by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) saying that they did not have faith in the state police.

“The government must provide me a job. Otherwise, how can I fend for myself and three of our children,” said Swarup’s widow China.

Condemning the police for its ‘harassment’ of the grieving family and refusal to allow the body to be taken to the BJP’s headquarters in Kolkata, the party’s state unit president Dilip Ghosh said they would conduct widespread agitation in the state.

“Police created pressure on the family so that no procession is taken out with the body. They abided by what the police said. Now we have to see how fast the police arrest those named in the FIR lodged after Swarup was shot,” said Shymapada Mandal, president of the BJP’s Birbhum unit.

Mandal set a deadline for the police and warned that the BJP would paralyse the district if all the accused were not arrested.

“We have told the police that they have to arrest eight of the 11 named in the FIR by September 15. Otherwise, we will bring the district to a standstill,” said Mandal.

Among the 11 people named in the FIR is Kerim Khan, who is the officer in charge of road affairs in Birbhum zilla parishad. Three men have been arrested so far.

Swarup who was shot during a clash with Trinamool Congress supporters in his village on Friday, succumbed to injuries in a hospital in Kolkata on Sunday.

After the post mortem exam, when his wife accompanied by BJP leaders, went to N R S Medical College and Hospital to take his body on Monday, the police did not allow them to take possession because they wanted to take the body to the state BJP office. The police apprehended law and order trouble and asked them to return the next morning.

On Tuesday morning, when his wife again went to take the body, she was told that it was taken to the district and kept in a sub divisional hospital, and that they should take permission from district police and take possession of the body.

Swarup’s wife filed two complaints – one with the hospital authorities and another with the police – for giving away the body and taking it to Birbhum without her permission.

BJP state unit vice-president Biswapriya Ray Chowdhury said on Wednesday that they will move court against the hospital and police next week. The BJP had initially said they would move the court on Wednesday.

Earlier Tuesday, Kolkata mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim had rubbished the BJP’s allegations that the police acted on the advice of Trinamool Congress. Hakim said the police did their duty and the ruling party did not need to depend upon them.