A BJP worker was found hanging from a tree in Birbhum’s Labhpur on Sunday evening amid allegations that he had faced pressure to quit the party from Trinamul activists.

The body of Tapas Bagdi, 33, a resident of Dwarka village, was found near the bank of the Mayurakshi river.

The Birbhum BJP has accused Trinamul of “plotting the murder” as Tapas had not quit the BJP.

District Trinamul chief Anubrata Mondal has denied the allegations. “It is a case of suicide and post-mortem will prove it. The BJP is trying to stage a drama with the incident to divert attention from the death of our Khoirasol block president Dipak Ghosh,” said Mondal.

Tapas’s father Ananda Bagdi has lodged an FIR naming five local Trinamul activists.

“Trinamul workers came to our house on Friday and beat us. They later lodged a police complaint against two of my sons. Tapas’s name was not included in the FIR as he was out of the village. The same day, Trinamul activists threatened to kill us and hang our bodies. We suspect that my son was killed and then hanged from a tree,” said Ananda.

Tapas’s family members said Tapas had gone to take bath in a pond around 3.30pm on Sunday. Tapas’s brother, Sukhen, said: “As my elder brother did not return till 6pm, we became worried and went in search of him. A cowherd informed us that he had found Tapas lying on the bank of the Mayurakshi. Around 7pm, my mother and some family members spotted him hanging from a tree near the river.”

District BJP chief Ramkrishna Roy said: “Trinamul workers of Labhpur killed our worker and then hanged him from a tree.”

Police sent the body to Bolpur subdivisional hospital for post-mortem. A senior police officer said the post-mortem indicated suicide. “We have talked to the doctor who conducted the autopsy. He told us there was no external injury. The post-mortem shows it was suicide and not homicide,” the officer added.