Murshidabad murders: four detained, BJP leaders contradict each other over murdered man’s political connection

Four persons have been detained in connection with the murder of Murshidabad residents Bandhu Prakash Pal, his pregnant wife and their six-year-old son, which took place earlier this week. The incident has become a major political issue in West Bengal, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claiming that Pal was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Union minister of state Babul Supriyo and BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted about this incident. Patra questioned the lack of response from “liberals” in this case. “This has shaken my conscience …a RSS worker Bandhu Prakash Pal, his eight months pregnant wife and his kid were brutally slaughtered in West Bengal’s Murshidabad Not a word by the liberals Not a letter by 59 liberals to Mamata Nauseating Selectivism!”: he wrote on Twitter.

The BJP in Bengal has been circulating a poster that questions the “silence” of intellectuals over “eight murders in four days” since Ashtami.

However, interestingly, family members of the murdered have said that Pal did not have any political connections. This statement was confirmed by the regional spokesperson for RSS in Bengal, Biplab Roy, who said that Pal was not an RSS member.

This has become a major embarrassment for the state BJP leaders, who have all been claiming that Pal was an RSS member. BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and leaders Arjun Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya among others have been saying that Pal was a member of the RSS. Today, at a sit-in protest in Kolkata, Mukul Roy said Pal was an RSS member and that the murder has strong political undercurrents.

Now, four persons – including the father of Bandhu Prakash Pal – have been detained for interrogation. The other three are two other family members and one of Pal’s friends. There are hints of a family problem and financial crisis as possible reasons for the murders.

A letter written by Beauty, Pal’s wife, has been discovered which indicates that the relation between the two had been very strained for the past two months.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee said that instead of blaming the ruling party, the BJP and the RSS leadership should first decide among themselves whether or not Pal was associated with them at all.