The State of West Bengal had witnessed widespread chaos and violence, following the Assembly elections in May this year. During the Trinamool Congress sponsored carnage, several BJP workers were attacked, intimidated, and killed. One such tragic story was that of a 28-year-old BJP worker named Joy Prakash Yadav, who was murdered during a crude bomb attack, reported The Indian Express.
Yadav lived in a small hut in Bhatpara in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal. He was an active BJP worker and even had a lotus symbol inscribed on the walls of his house. Yadav worked at a real estate company alongside his father Mishri Lal Yadav in Rajarhat. He was close to the BJP and was friends with Pawan Singh, the son of saffron party leader Arjun Singh. On June 6 this year, two unidentified men barged into the house when the family was having lunch.
Joy Prakash Yadav had a heated argument with the two men before he was killed after a crude bomb hit his head. Prior to his murder, one of the men could be heard as saying, “Forget police…. You are doing too much BJP, BJP… leave it.” The incident was recorded on camera by Yadav’s 17-year-old niece, Swapna. During the deadly attack on the victim, his mother Rajmati Devi too suffered from hearing loss.
https://twitter.com/BJP4Bengal/status/1401541784514162702?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwWhile recounting the fateful day, Swapna said, “I recorded the men on my phone… I ran behind them but they escaped.”. Following the incident, the State unit of the BJP had condemned the attack on Twitter. “Violence continues after the elections in West Bengal! TMC miscreants bombed and killed BJP activist Joy Prakash Yadav… The death of Democracy in Bengal, freedom strangled.”
FIR lodged, 2 accused arrested
The police have so far arrested two people, namely Tuntun Choudhury, and Animesh Pal. TMC workers Chandan Singh and Lallan Singh have also been booked. Tuntun is said to be close to both BJP and TMC and has been involved in past bombing incidents. The victim’s family emphasised that the mastermind behind the attack was a TMC worker.
A First Information Report (DIR) was lodged against the accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 34 (furtherance of common intention), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder),307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing hurt), and the Explosive Substances Act. Joy Prakash Yadav is now survived by his parents, wife Sangita, and children Anuj and Anushka.
Family debunks police claims of ‘land dispute’
JCP (Barrackpore) Dhrubajyoti De remarked, “We haven’t found anything political so far, it could be linked to a land dispute.” Another official, probing the case, also claimed that Yadav’s murder could be related to a land dispute. He alleged that the victim’s house was built of railway land and that several houses were constructed and given out for rent. He further claimed that the altercation was about constructing a house on the land.
On being informed about the political angle in the video recorded by Swapna, the official then claimed to probe all angles. However, the family of the victim insisted that the case had nothing to do with a land dispute. They added, “You can ask anyone… my son was not into any illegal things. He was a simple family man. Who will look after his two children now?” The Indian Express reported that Arjun Singh had handed ₹5 lacs to the family of the victim.
TMC desperately tries to weave conspiracy theories
In order to portray the murder of Joy Prakash Yadav as an ‘internal conspiracy’ by the BJP, the TMC claimed that accused Tuntun Choudhury was close to Pawn Singh’s father Arjun Singh. Pawan Singh had however rubbished such claims. He said, “There are thousands of followers of Arjun Singh, doesn’t mean he has got anything to do with this incident. Post Assembly by-elections in 2019, Tuntun had rejoined the TMC and is close to its workers Chandan Singh and Lallan Singh. Tuntun was used in this murder to fulfil both personal and political grudges. We have been following up with police but the investigation has shown no big development.”
NHRC makes damning disclosures on post-poll violence in West Bengal
On Wednesday (July 14), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) submitted its final report on Bengal post-poll violence to the Calcutta High Court. The statutory public body said in its report that, after visiting 311 spots in 20 days and carrying out an extensive inquiry in the matter, the seven-member committee constituted to probe the post-poll violence in West Bengal, concluded that the current situation of the state, is a manifestation of ‘Law of Ruler’, instead of ‘Rule of Law’. It added that the loss of faith in state administration among victims is very evident.
Attaching details of the same, the NHRC report stated that it collected a whopping 1979 number of complaints from 23 districts where incidents of violence had taken place post-Mamata Banerjee’s May 2 win. Most complaints are from Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Bardhaman, North 24 Parganas and Kolkata, said that NHRC reports adding that most of the complaints related to rape, molestation, and vandalism and were received through local sources in West Bengal while the team was camping there. The statutory body added that a list of 57 complaints related to women was received from the National Women Commission.