Murder of Indian politician sets stage for election bloodshed
- Party of West Bengal lawmaker shot dead at a religious ceremony on Saturday is blaming PM Modi’s ruling BJP, which denies being involved
Thousands of protesters paraded through a West Bengal town on Sunday with the body of a politician whose killing appeared to open a campaign of violence before India’s general election.
Satyajit Biswas, a lawmaker from the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), was shot dead at point blank range at a religious ceremony on Saturday night.
His party blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, but its leaders denied involvement.
“We suspect a political link to the killing,” said West Bengal deputy police chief Anuj Sharma, who added that two people had been arrested but did not say which party they were from.
Followers marched with the 38-year-old legislator’s body from Nadia district, about 120km (75 miles) from Kolkata, to his village.
Nadia was a battleground between the TMC and BJP in civic polls last year. There were dozens of deaths during the campaign.