A BJP minority cell leader was found dead on the balcony of his residence at Goghat in Hooghly on Saturday morning with his family alleging that the “murder” was politically motivated. According to sources with the police, a probe has been launched.

Sheikh Bakibullah, 35, was the president of the BJP’s minority cell in Goghat. His family members discovered the body at around 7 am, as per local residents. The family has claimed that Bakibullah was murdered and the crime scene was staged to appear like a suicide.

Tensions ran high when the police reached the house to take the body for post-mortem, with local residents demanding a proper investigation into the matter. A senior police officer associated with the probe said, “The body has been sent for post-mortem. Prima facie, it looks like suicide. However, further investigation is on.”

The deceased man’s wife Maniyara Begum said he reached home at 11 pm on Friday and refused to eat anything. “He said he was not feeling well. He took the headphones and was on his phone. He did not sleep and was tensed. I fell asleep and did not realise when he got up and left,” she said.

Bakibullah’s brother-in-law Sheikh Badrul Alam said they last spoke at 12:30 am. “He had gone out for tea. I asked him why he was calling so late. He just said he would be leaving to Saudi for a job and before that he wanted to meet me today morning. I called him after some time, but he did not answer the phone,” Alam said.

He added, “Today morning I got the news that he has been murdered. This is a political murder. He was a BJP leader and was doing well in this area. There is a conspiracy. Now what will happen to his parents, wife and two children?”

In May, Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker Subal Ghosh was hacked to death – allegedly by BJP supporters – in Malda, while a BJP activist was murdered in Murshidabad.