A BJP worker’s body was recovered from a forested area in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district on Wednesday night. The incident soon triggered tension in the area as the saffron party accused Trinamool Congress ‘goons’ of murdering him.

The ruling party however denied the allegations, saying they were "baseless and bereft of truth".

According to a police officer, the deceased Gokul Jana’s body was found at the Itabedia area in the district on Wednesday night, following which an inquiry was initiated.

The state unit of the BJP, in a Twitter statement, said, “Gokul Jana, BJPs booth worker from Kanthi Bhagabanpur assembly, was brutally murdered by TMC goons. His crime? He requested the husband of a TMC panchayat member affected by Corona to stay in quarantine!"

"Is this how a democracy is supposed to survive under Mamata Banerjee's TMC in Bengal?" the tweet adds.

BJP leader Sayantan Basu alleged that the police was trying to shield the murderers by hushing up the matter, adding that Jana was a victim of political rivalry.

"Hundreds of our workers have been killed by the TMC in West Bengal and the police are not taking any action. The ruling party doesn't believe in democracy," he said.

BJP national secretary Arvind Menon in a tweet condemned the “brutal murder” and posted a picture of Jana.

The TMC, on the other hand, said that none of its workers had any connection to the death, and described the saffron party’s allegations as a “bunch of lies”.

"We demand a thorough probe into his death. It seems the BJP has resorted to politics over dead bodies in the run up to assembly polls," a district leader said.