West Bengal student lynched, union blames TMCP

Kolkata: A third-year college student and a Chhatra Parishad (CP) activist, was brutally beaten to death inside the students’ union room.

Blaming the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad for the tragic killing in Sajanikanta Mahavidyalay in Sabang, angry CP workers locked up college principal Kanailal Paria in his room and blocked the state highway in protest.

The gruesome murder inside the college campus sent shockwaves across the state, prompting leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra to call a state-wide student protest. “I am appealing to all students and youth in the state, irrespective of their political or ideological leanings, to come out on the streets on Saturday to protest the heinous murder of a student,” he said, adding that as a mark of protest even schools and colleges should be shut down.

The students’ union in Sabang College is under Chhatra Parishad’s control. “TMCP leaders came to the students’ union room and asked us (CP) members to attend state minister Soumen Mahapatra’s rally. The minister was scheduled to distribute relief among flood affected people in Sabang. When Krishna Prasad Jana refused to go, they attacked him with iron rods,” said a student.

According to veteran Congress MLA Manas Bhuniya when the classes were going on, TMCP goons first locked up the students’ union office and when the CP activists protested, they were beaten up. “Jana, a third year commerce student was hit on the head with lathis and iron rods. He succumbed to his injuries on his way to Sabang Hospital,” Mr Bhuniya added.

CP leaders accused two TMCP leaders Tarun Mishra and Amulya Maity of being behind the attack. Local CP leader Arijit Chakraborty said Jana was an active CP member and TMCP activists had tried to harm him in the past also. “Today on a minor issue, they ruthlessly attacked him with iron rods when other CP workers were not present. It was a pre-planned murder,” he added.

Mr Maity, block TMC president however denied all charges and claimed that he was not even present in the college when the incident took place. “I was at the minister’s programme,” he claimed.

State Trinamul Chhatra Parishad president Ashok Rudra said TMCP was not at all involved in Jana’s killing. Acknowledging that a student was murdered on the campus, principal Prof. Paria said he had no idea about the people who killed Jana. “The students protesting his death have locked me inside my office. The police is looking into the incident which was indeed heart-wrenching,” he said.

Voicing her profound anguish over Jana’s death, chief minister Mamata Banerjee promised strong action against the culprits. “The incident is unfortunate. It was a students’ clash inside the students’ union room. Chhatra Parishad controls the union The principal was locked up. The student died from injuries after he was hit with a bat. The police is investigating. I have said strong action must be taken,” she added. Education minister Partha Chatterjee also hinted at CP’s infighting as the cause of the violence when he said that outsiders were involved in the attack.

BJP MLA Samik Bhattacharya said that Jana’s death once again proved that Trinamul Congress was not a political party but a violent organisation, which indulges in murder and mayhem to remain in power.