Congress councillor killed for refusing to join TMC, claims Adhir Chowdhury

Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury alleged that the party councilor Tapan Kandu was murdered by the goons of the Trinamool Congress.

The Congress on Monday alleged that the Inspector-in-charge (IC) of Jhalda and local TMC leaders had been mounting "pressure" on its councillor Tapan Kandu to switch sides and join the state's ruling camp, and the leader was murdered as he did not give in to their demand.

Congress leader in Lok Sabha and state president of the party, Adhir Chowdhury, who paid a visit to Kandu's family in Purulia's Jhalda on Monday afternoon, alleged that Kandu was murdered by the goons of the TMC, and the local police.

"The Jhalda municipality saw a hung house after polls and Kandu and his wife were asking for help from Independent candidates. Was that a mistake? His wife has said that the TMC, through the police, was putting pressure on them to join the TMC. The local IC had been threatening them to joining the TMC for several months. And when he (IC) could not manage that, Kandu was murdered," Chowdhury said after meeting the deceased's wife.

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Describing Kandu as a "martyr", he said that his dedication to the party would be remembered by the future generations.

Chowdhury, during the day, led a rally in the area in protest, with some of Kandu’s followers seen pelting the Jhalda police station building with stones.

Senior TMC leader and state urban development minister Firhad Hakim, however, rubbished the allegations and said that Kandu's family members were "made to say those things".