(From top) BJP workers pay their last respect to Nripen Mondal at the party office in Malda on Monday, driver Nirmal Prasad who suffered bullet injuries in Malda Medical College and Hospital and Nripen Mondal. Pictures by Surajit Roy

Malda, June 17: A three-time BJP panchayat samiti member who was contesting this year’s panchayat polls from a party stronghold in Malda was shot dead last night, the first murder of a contestant before the election.

Nripen Mondal, 39, and some of his associates were returning home after campaigning when a group of eight to 10 masked men who were waiting on both sides of a road riddled the car with bullets and escaped. The driver suffered a bullet injury in his arm.

The BJP alleged that Trinamul was behind the murder, a charge the ruling party denied.

The place where Nripen Mondal was murdered — Jaijul — is a BJP stronghold with the party controlling nine gram panchayats in the area. Jaijul falls under the CPM-controlled Habibpur panchayat samiti, of which Nripen Mondal was the leader of the Opposition.

BJP district president Shibendu Shekhar Roy said Nripen Mondal was an “active leader” in the area.

“He was one of our candidates for the Habibpur panchayat samiti this time too. Our party has a strong base in Habibpur, especially in Jajiul. We believe local Trinamul Congress leaders are behind his murder. He had been receiving threats from Trinamul for quite some time,” Roy said.

He said he had informed the Malda police superintendent about Trinamul’s “hand” in the murder.

“It is possible that Trinamul had sought the help of Kamtapur Liberation Organisation militants to kill Nripen Mondal,” Roy said.

The KLO is active in Habibpur, which is on the Malda-Bangladesh border.

State BJP president Rahul Sinha, too, alleged in Calcutta that Trinamul was behind Nripen Mondal’s murder, adding that the slain leader was countering the ruling party’s attempts to make inroads into Habibpur.

“We are convinced that Trinamul activists murdered Nripen Mondal in a pre-planned manner because his presence was coming in the way of the party making inroads into our stronghold,” Sinha said.

He alleged that Trinamul activists had been putting pressure on Nripen Mondal to withdraw his nomination.

Sinha said the party’s central leadership had “expressed concern” at the murder.

Trinamul denied any role in Mondal’s murder. “Our party has nothing to do with the killing. Habibpur is known as a KLO stronghold and the militant organisation could be behind the murder. Let the police investigate and uncover the truth,” district Trinamul president and minister for women and child development Sabitri Mitra said.

Mondal, a resident of Joydebpur village in the Jaijul gram panchayat area, was attacked when he was returning after campaigning in neighbouring Jiakandar villager.

Mondal was seating beside the driver, Nirmal Prasad. Three local BJP leaders — Dinesh Mondal, Bablu Mondal and Gautam Barman — were also in the car.

Prasad, who has been admitted to Malda Medical College Hospital with a bullet injury in his right arm, said: “The village road is in bad condition and I was forced to drive slowly. When we a proached Haripur More, nine to 10 masked men, some clad in vests and half pants and carrying firearms, started firing.

“Nripen Mondal was hit by bullets behind his ear, chest and head. I was hit by a bullet in my arm. The three at the back and I jumped out of the car and fled,”

Soon after the incident, senior district BJP leaders, including Roy, arrived at the spot. Police superintendent Kalyan Mukherjee also came.

“The BJP panchayat samiti candidate was attacked when he was returning after campaigning. He died of bullet injuries at the spot. We are carrying out a combing operation in the Jaijul area. The victim was shot seven times. The police have recovered the bullets and send them for forensic tests to determine the nature of weapons used. A police picket has been set up at Haripur More,” Mukherjee said.

Nripen Mondal’s body was handed over to his family after the post-mortem. He is survived by his wife, a daughter in her teens and a five-year-old son.

Elections to the number 12 panchayat samity seat, where Nripen Mondal was a candidate, will not be held as scheduled because of the murder. “With the filing and withdrawal of nominations for all seats completed, the elections to this particular panchayat samity seat in Habibpur will not be held as scheduled. It will take place on a later date,” said an State Election Commission official in Calcutta.

The BJP has called a 24-hour bandh in the Habibpur and adjoining Bamungola areas tomorrow to protest the murder. BJP supporters put up road blocks and brought out protest rallies in the two places today.

State BJP chief Sinha said a three-member party delegation today called on state election commission officials demanding protection of BJP candidates. “Nearly 14,000 BJP candidates have filed nominations for the panchayat polls and we want police protection for all of them,” he said.

Bloc leader arrested

Manindranath Barman, the Forward Bloc saha-sabhadhipati of the Cooch Behar zilla parishad, was arrested on Monday in connection with the murder of Trinamul worker Ratan Barman.

Ratan was beaten to death in Dinhata’s Khattimari area on Saturday allegedly by Bloc supporters. Trinamul had filed an FIR that night accusing Bloc district secretary Udayan Guha and 59 others in connection with the murder. Manindranath’s name was also in the FIR. Ratan has been remanded in judicial custody till June 29.