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Updated: Jun 06, 2019 21:52 IST

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday imposed a ban on victory processions of the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying these were triggering violence across Bengal, and instructed the police to take “strong action against BJP leaders if they try to create trouble”.

Reacting to the ban on victory processions, BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said, “This order proves how bad the law and order situation in Bengal is and how the government has failed to do its duty. The confession comes from the person (Mamata Banerjee) who is also the home minister (of the state).”

Addressing people outside the home of local party leader Nirmal Kundu, who was killed at Nimta in North 24 Parganas on Tuesday, Banerjee said, “The family told me that Nirmal became an enemy of the local BJP because he was not letting them set up a giant LCD screen outside his house for watching direct telecast of the swearing-in ceremony of the new government in Delhi. This is no ordinary supari killing. The conspiracy goes deeper. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will probe the murder.”

At the same event, the CM instructed the police not to permit victory processions of the BJP as it was creating law and order problems and said the police should take action against the BJP leaders who try to disturb law and order.

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At least seven persons have been killed in political violence in the state since election results were declared on May 23.

BJP state leaders have claimed that Kundu’s murder was the fallout of infighting in the Trinamool. But, the local police on Thursday arrested one Suman Kundu suspecting him to be behind the murder.

Kundu, 37, a civic ward-level TMC unit president at Nimta was shot dead by three motorcycle-borne men. The killing was recorded by a security camera installed in the vicinity.

Ananda Roy, deputy commissioner of police (zone 2), Barrackpore, said, “Suman Kundu is known in the area as an active BJP worker. During investigation we arrested Sujay Das, a criminal from the Baroah area of Murshidabad district and seized a country-made single shot pistol and three cartridges. There are more suspects.”

An officer from Nimta police station, who is investigating the murder case, said that Das is a contract killer and police are looking for two other criminals, Laltu and Biltu, who hail from Nimta.

“My son was working for the BJP. He went missing after our house was set on fire,” said Rita Kundu, Suman’s mother, even as family of the victim sought police protection claiming they were being threatened by BJP workers.

“BJP backed goons killed Nirmal,” said Sougata Roy, TMC MP of Dum Dum. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, “Miscreants in TMC are killing each other. They are dragging our name into their infighting.”

Also read: Bengal violence continues as Mamata hits out at BJP

Banerjee, however, questioned the BJP winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state saying “had the victory come through support of the people there would have been no violence.”

“After Indira Gandhi’s assassination, the Congress won 16 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal but not a single man was killed. In 2009, Congress and TMC jointly won 26 seats but there was no murder. The BJP has won only 18 seats using money and forgery and now look at the bloodbath,” Banerjee said.