Krishnagar, Jan. 1: A Congress leader of Nakashipara in Nadia was beheaded and his limbs were severed while he was returning home after a party meeting last night.

Bakbul Hussain, 45, an affluent farmer and secretary of the Congress’s Nakashipara unit, was found dead in a field this morning. Police said his motorcycle was lying close by.

From Dogachhi village, where the body was found, Hussain’s house ? at Sukhsagar ? is a few hundred metres.

The police are yet to establish the motive behind the murder. District superintendent R. Rajsekharan said: “As of now, we are clueless.”

Those present at the party meeting will be questioned, the police chief said, adding: “We have come to know that he was scheduled to attend a New Year’s Eve programme at Bethuadahari, but we are not sure whether he went there.”

Among those present at the Congress meeting were district party president Ajoy De and MLA Shankar Singh.

The party was quick to pin blame on the CPM. Dulal Singha Roy, the Congress pre-sident of Nakashipara, said Hussain was killed because he brought CPM supporters to the Congress fold. “CPM leaders had threatened him but he did not listen.” De echoed him.

S.M. Sadi, a district CPM leader, said: “He paid the price for the company he kept.”