“Ray was found hanging near a shop at Hemtabad area this morning. We have started an investigation,” a senior district police officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Kolkata| West Bengal BJP MLA Debendra Nath Ray, early this morning in North Dinajpur district, was found dead in an open verandah outside a shop, triggering outrage and allegations from the BJP calling it a “murder”.
Ray was found hanging is about one kilometer away from his home.
Some people had come to the house at 1 am and called him away, one family member of his house has said. Ray’s family has demanded a probe into his death.
Local residents spotted his body in the morning and informed the police about it.
“Ray was found hanging near a shop at Hemtabad area this (Monday) morning. We have started an investigation,” a senior district police officer was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Whereas the BJP has accused that the party leader was killed. BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya tweeted, “No end to the killing of BJP leaders in Bengal. The BJP MLA who had left the TMC has been murdered. Was it because he joined the BJP?”
Among many other BJP leaders, the party chief JP Nadda also tweeted about the incident.
Nadda said, “The suspected heinous killing of Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad in West Bengal, is extremely shocking and deplorable. This speaks of the Gunda Raj & failure of law and order in the Mamta govt. People will not forgive such a govt in the future. We strongly condemn this.”
The suspected heinous killing of Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad in West Bengal, is extremely shocking and deplorable. This speaks of the Gunda Raj & failure of law and order in the Mamta govt. People will not forgive such a govt in the future. We strongly condemn this.
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) July 13, 2020
The Hemtabad assembly, a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes, was contested and won by Debendra Nath Ray on a CPM ticket backed by the Congress in 2016 but had switched over to the BJP last year after the Lok Sabha election.
Hemtabad resides in North Dinajpur district.
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