Youth found dead in West Bengal, BJP claims deceased belonged to saffron camp

Kolkata: The discovery of a youth's body in a paddy field in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district on Saturday triggered a war of words between the TMC and BJP, with the saffron party claiming that the deceased was affiliated with their party.

The body of Santanu Bera (27), which was found in an open field in Poporpara area of Pingla under Kharagpur local police station, has been sent for post-mortem to determine the cause of death, a police officer said.

Santanu's father claimed that his son was a BJP activist and had been missing since Friday night. He claimed Santanu was murdered.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said Santanu was an active BJP member who had received threats from certain people in the area due to his party affiliation.

The West Bengal opposition leader called for a high-level investigation into the incident, which occurred just before the polls.

In response, TMC MLA Ajit Maity accused the BJP of needing such 'bodies' before every election and claimed that the party was being falsely implicated.

"We heard he had some disputes with some members of his family. We have asked the local police station for post-mortem of the body. Let the truth come out," Maity said.