A Trinamool Congress (TMC) booth convener was shot dead at Chakai village under the Sonamukhi police station on Monday night, sparking tension in the area.
Sekender Khan, alias Sayan Khan, was returning home on his motorcycle from the Pakhanna market around 9pm when he was surrounded by some bike-borne assailants, police said.
The assailants opened fire on him near an irrigation canal at the entrance to Chakai village.
“Khan was shot in the back and head, and he died on the spot. The attackers fled the scene immediately after the incident. We are investigating the case,” said a police official.
Upon receiving information, police reached the spot and sent the body to the Sonamukhi Rural Hospital for post-mortem.
They have detained two persons for questioning, officials said.
The murder triggered a political blame game. Subrata Dutta, the TMC’s Bishnupur organisational district president, accused the BJP and CPM of conspiring to murder Khan, claiming it was an act of political revenge ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. “He was a skilled political organiser in the area. He was murdered in a planned manner because the Opposition parties know they will lose the Sonamukhi Assembly seat,” Dutta alleged.
Rejecting the allegations, local BJP MLA Dibakar Gharami denied any involvement of his party, stating that it was a fallout of TMC’s factional dispute over land distribution in the area. “The BJP has no connection with this murder,” Gharami claimed.
The area has been a hotbed of Trinamool Congress’ factional conflicts for nearly a year.
On March 2, two TMC factions exchanged gunfire, leaving a party leader injured.
In the past one month, 10 TMC workers and leaders have been killed in the state.
The latest killing has deepened concerns about political violence in the region.
In the past month alone, at least 9 such deaths involving TMC workers and leaders have been reported.
These include:
July 6: Sudip Naru, a TMC worker, killed in Narendrapur
July 10: Rezzak Khan, a TMC anchal president, killed
July 10: Abdul Kalam Azad, a TMC worker, killed in Englishbazar
July 13: Pijush Ghosh, a TMC leader, killed in Saithiya
July 19: Bitulla Sheikh, a TMC leader, killed in Birbhum’s Mallarpur.
July 23: Shasthi Ghosh, a TMC worker, murdered in Murshidabad’s Bharatpur
July 25: A TMC booth president was killed in Rejinagar, Murshidabad.
July 30: A TMC youth president killed in Cooch Behar