Cooch Behar shooting: TMC leader injured in attack; BJP MLA’s son arrested

NEW DELHI: A local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was shot and injured late Thursday night in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district, triggering a political row between the ruling party and the BJP.Raju Dey, the ‘karmadhyaksha’ of the Cooch Behar Block 2 Panchayat Samity, sustained a bullet injury to his right shoulder after unidentified men opened fire near the Jhinaidanga area around 11 pm. He was rushed to a nearby hospital by party workers and is currently stable, police said.According to investigators, the attackers arrived in a black car, which was later abandoned at the scene. “The vehicle belongs to MLA Roy. The BJP leader's son and the driver of the car have been arrested. We have witnesses who have seen his son in the car at the time of the incident. Our investigation is continuing,” said a senior police officer.Police confirmed that an FIR has been filed against four individuals.In a video statement, Dey linked the incident to a past protest against the local BJP MLA. “A couple of months back, locals in Chakchaka had held protests because the MLA remained inactive in the area. The legislator was travelling in the same car back then. It was seen yesterday, too, when I was attacked,” Dey said.The TMC accused the BJP of orchestrating the attack. “The 2024 Lok Sabha results from Bengal made it clear that @BJP4India was rapidly losing ground in Cooch Behar. Now that the district has slipped from their iron-fisted grasp, they've returned to what they do best: unleashing BRUTE, MINDLESS VIOLENCE,” the party posted on X.It added, “Our Panchayat Samiti worker from Jhinaidanga was shot in cold blood. CCTV footage confirms the involvement of @BJP4Bengal MLA Sukumar Roy’s son, flanked by their usual gang of armed goons.”However, the BJP rejected the charges and pointed the finger back at the TMC. “This is definitely a pre-planned conspiracy of the TMC. They did it along with the police,” said BJP MLA Sukumar Roy.