West Bengal: TMC and Congress councillors shot dead in two separate incidents

TMC councillor from ward number eight of Panihati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district, Anupam Dutta, was shot to death from a close range by motorcycle-borne youths, who are yet to be identified.

The incident happened in Agarpara, which is less than 10 kilometers away from the city of Kolkata.

Dutta, who had sustained serious head injuries, was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Naihati's TMC MLA Partha Bhowmick stopped short of accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of having a role in the incident saying Dutta had earned "wrath" of the BJP after defeating one of its big shots in the recent civic polls.

In a separate incident in the Purulia district, four-time and very popular Congress councillor of Jhalda Municipality, Tapan Kandu, was also shot to death by unidentified motorcycle-born youths when he went for a walk near his residence in the evening.

Kandu, who fell on the ground, was lifted by locals and was taken to a hospital at Ranchi in Jharkhand, the border state.

He was declared brought-dead.

Purulia's Congress leader Nepal Mahato called the murder "political".

While the TMC has won 33 of 35 seats in the recently concluded Panihati municipality polls, the Jhalda civic body is hung with both the Congress and ruling party having won five seats each.