india

Updated: Nov 05, 2019 00:06 IST

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and one of his associates were arrested in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district on Monday in connection with the murder of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader last month.

Kurban Ali Shah, the deputy head of the Panskura Panchayat Samiti, was murdered on October 7 in the district’s Panskura area.

“Anisur Rahaman and Mubarak Ali Khan have been arrested from the Mecheda area. Both were named in the FIR. They have been produced in court,” East Midnapore’s superintendent of police, V Solomon Nesakumar, said.

“Rahaman is the prime suspect in the murder. It was carried out for personal as well as political reasons. The crime was planned for one and a half months,” Nesakumar added.

Police had earlier arrested six people, including Sheikh Taslim Arif alias Raja, an alleged contract killer.

Anisur Rahaman was earlier with the TMC and also served as the chairperson of Panskura municipality. He joined the BJP a few months ago.

“I am innocent,” said Rahaman when he was being taken to court on Monday afternoon.

After Shah was shot dead inside a party office on the night of Nabami—the second last of the Durga Puja—his wife Sabina Khatun, the head of Maisora gram panchayat, lodged a police complaint against Rahaman.

Rahaman and his associate have been charged under sections 302 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 25 and 27 of the Indian Arms Act.

The BJP’s state unit president Dilip Ghosh said police have arrested Rahaman against false allegations.

“He was arrested four times in the past in the same manner. Policemen are working under instructions from TMC leaders,” said Ghosh.