Bengal Governor meets next of kin of slain TMC worker in Basanti

West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose returned to Kolkata on Monday after completing his tour of the northern districts and went to Basanti in South 24 Parganas district, where he met the next of kin of a TMC worker who was shot dead in spiraling pre-poll violence in the state, an official said.

Instead of first going to Raj Bhavan, his official residence, after returning from Cooch Behar, Bose straightaway went to Phulmalancha area in Basanti block where he talked to the bereaved family members of the deceased besides taking stock of the situation, the official told PTI.

"He spoke with the daughter of the deceased and also other residents of the area. He enquired about the law and order situation there and assured them of all help," he said.

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The governor had to walk a few hundred metres to reach the area where the deceased's house was located as the approach road was too narrow for vehicles to ply, the official said.

Incidentally, the governor had spoken to the family members of the slain TMC worker on Sunday night from the train he was travelling in, he said.

Bose's return to Kolkata was rearranged from flight to train to enable him to contact better with the people as his mobile phone would have to be switched off on the flight, the official said.

"The governor does not want to be detached from the people and hence he decided to cancel his air travel and reschedule it on train so that people can call him up and lodge their complaints," he said.

The TMC worker, identified as 52-year-old Jiyarul Molla, was shot dead in late on Saturday night when he was returning home from Canning town, a police officer said.

The deceased's daughter Manwara, who is a TMC candidate from Kathalberia gram panchayat, has alleged that her father had been receiving life threats from a rival faction.

The deceased's daughter demanded a CBI inquiry into her father's death.

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Manwara had earlier said she has faith in the governor, but not the state administration.

The governor also visited the spot from where the body was recovered. There, he also spoke with the villagers.

The governor had earlier visited poll violence-hit areas in Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, and Canning and Bhangar in South 24 Parganas.

Around 5.67 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the three-tier panchayat elections in the state on July 8 for nearly 74,000 seats in zilla parishads, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats.