BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday distributed cheques to the families of the four party activists from the Muslim community who were murdered by suspected Trinamul supporters in Birbhum over the past six months, a move apparently aimed at reaching out to minority voters that constitute 27 per cent of Bengal’s electorate.

“Trinamul calls us communal. But our four party activists who fell victim to Trinamul’s heinous attacks in Birbhum villages belonged to Muslim families,” state BJP president Rahul Sinha said after the rally.

“The token gesture (cheques) is a small attempt to stand by the victims’ families.”

A steady stream of defections from Trinamul to the BJP in several Birbhum pockets since the Lok Sabha polls has triggered frequent clashes that claimed the four lives since June. Many from Trinamul who have switched to the BJP are Muslims.

Among those who received the cheques were Hajera Biwi, 52, the widow of slain BJP worker Sheikh Rahim. She, like the others, got a cheque for Rs 50,000 from Shah.

“Trinamul goons murdered my husband for joining the BJP. I have enrolled as a BJP member to avenge my husband’s murder,” Hajera said, while climbing down the stairs of the rally dais.

Among the other victims was Taushik Ali, an 18-year-old who had been shot dead in Makhra on October 27 during a recapture bid by alleged Trinamul workers.

“I have taken a vow to fight Trinamul goons till my death as a BJP activist,” Taushik’s father Shaukat Ali said.

The other two recepients were the father of Sheikh Enamul, an Ilambazar resident killed by suspected TMC activists on October 9, and the father of Sheikh Jasimuddin, 17, who was killed by alleged Trinamul activists at Choumandalpur in Birbhum’s Parui on November 16.