A Trinamool supporter in Cooch Behar was allegedly fatally beaten up by one of his neighbours, a BJP worker, on Sunday.

Sources said that the deceased Subodh Malakar, 65, had an agreement with the accused, Paritosh Das, for sowing paddy seedlings on his plot. Both were from Howrarhat village in Cooch Behar-I block.

“Malakar agreed to pay ₹6,000 to Das for the work. The latter did not finish the job but demanded money from Malakar on Sunday. They had an altercation,” said a villager.

Leela, Malakar’s wife, alleged that later in the day, Das called her husband to a deserted place, trussed him up and beat him up to a pulp.

On Sunday night, some villagers spotted a critically injured Malakar and took him to the MJN Medical College & Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Das has fled.

District Trinamool leaders demanded Das’s immediate arrest. “It was a planned murder by the BJP worker. He should not be spared,” said Rabindranath Ghosh, a Trinamool veteran the Cooch Behar civic boss.

Biraj Bose, a BJP district general secretary, said: “Trinamool is politicising the incident which was the fallout of a wage dispute. Also, Das does not hold an official post
in our party.”