The murder of a lawyer and BJP leader who was crusading against land grabbers at Birsanagar has sparked wide protest in the city. A group of seven-eight assailants killed Prakash Yadav, (29) at Birsanagar Zone No 1-B late on Tuesday night. The victim who was also a BJP activist was hacked to death about 100 metres away from his house at about 10 pm. The incident has spread anger among the local residents as well as in the lawyers’ fraternity and the BJP.
The family members have filed in an FIR lodged with the Birsanagar police station alleging one Amulya Karmakar, who is also a BJP activist and local resident to have conspired Yadav’s murder. The family members have demanded immediate arrest of Karmakar and others who were involved in the killing.
Following the FIR was registered, police have detained four suspects for interrogation, but are yet to arrest anyone in connection to the gruesome incident.
According to family members, at about 8 pm on Tuesday, two friends of the BJP activist visited Yadav’s house and took him along to near Hari Mandir, about 100 metres away from his house. The family did not suspect anything as Yadav used to go to the place regularly and stay there till late hours in the night, it was nothing unusual of his passing the time there on Tuesday also.
“We are in a state of shock and never imagined this would happen. At about 10 pm, seven-eight persons came on bikes near Hari Mandir with swords and axes in their hands and suddenly attacked Yadav. The attackers first attacked him with axes and subsequently slit his throat with a sword. By the time the people from the neighbourhood rushed to the spot, Yadav died,” said one of the family members.
According to relatives, a section of local goons connected to the saffron party runs a racket of encroachment of land for selling. In view of rising encroachment, Yadav used to oppose them and would prevent them from grabbing the government land by lodging complaints with the local police and also with the Dhalbhum SDO. He had also mentioned about the threat on his life in a Facebook message posted hours before his murder.