BJP MLA's son arrested for firing on TMC worker in West Bengal's Cooch Behar

The Hindu

a day ago

Kolkata
A Trinamool Congress worker was shot at in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district and a Bhartiya Janta Party MLA's son has been arrested in relation with the crime, the police said on Friday (July 4, 2025). One more person has been arrested in relation to the crime.
The son of local BJP MLA Sukumar Roy, Dipankar Roy, and his driver, Uttam Gupta, were arrested in connection with the case, according to information shared by the local police officials. Mr. Sukumar Roy is the local MLA from Cooch Behar.
Police have recovered CCTV footage from the crime scene which is one of the strongest pieces of evidence in this assault case. The incident of shooting happened on July 3, late at night when the BJP MLA's son was reportedly using his father's car.
BJP denies role, says it is 'internal feud'
However, BJP claimed that Raju Dey, the TMC worker was attacked during an internal feud in their own party and said that Dipankar Roy or others from BJP had no relation to the crime. Mr. Dey's condition is said to be stable at the moment, and he has been admitted to a local hospital.
'BJP does not involve in such crimes and violence. I do not know who is behind this incident, but TMC is only using this to malign our name,' Sukumar Roy said. He also added that TMC does not have much footing in north Bengal and Cooch Behar that is why they are using this moment to attack BJP. He said that there are many allegations against Mr Dey and he can be attacked by anyone.
In the meantime, TMC workers in Cooch Behar took out a rally in support of Mr Dey and condemned the attack.
'We outright condemn the murderous attack on Raju Dey, Public Health Officer of Cooch Behar II Panchayat Samiti. Armed BJP-backed criminals, using the car of @BJP4Bengal's own MLA, tried to kill a public representative, and BJP still dares to talk about law and order?' the TMC wrote in a statement on their official social media handle on X.
'BJP MLA Sukumar Roy, the car he uses has been recovered and seized in connection with this attack. This was beyond our imagination. He is the local MLA, miscreants are using his car to attack a TMC panchayat member, this is unthinkable,' a local TMC leader accused during the protest rally.
Raju Dey spoke to media persons from his hospital bed and claimed that the BJP MLA's son attacked him. 'This is not new, the MLA and his son have attacked many of our people on other occasions as well,' Mr Dey said. He called for strict action against the perpetrators.
Police said that an FIR has been filed, and investigation is underway. He suffered a bullet injury on his right shoulder, police added. The injured had to undergo surgery to recover from the bullet injury.
TMC Minister Firhad Hakim accused that BJP is using 'Gujrat model' of politics in West Bengal to injure, kill, and harm their people.