A 35-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party worker was killed in West Bengal’s Nadia district on Saturday evening after the seventh and last phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections ended, reported The Indian Express.

The BJP worker, Hafizur Sheikh, was shot and then hacked to death by unidentified assailants while he was playing carrom with his neighbours in the district’s Kaliganj area.

While the BJP blamed West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress for the death, the Mamata Banerjee-led party claimed that the killing was the result of a family feud, according to PTI.

Sheikh had left the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and joined the BJP ahead of the election.

After the murder, the BJP worker’s relatives and locals protested with the body for the entire night, alleging police inaction. The police, however, said no formal complaint was lodged with them until late at night.

The BJP worker’s brother, Suku Sheikh, alleged that he was killed in a planned manner.

“The police knew everything but did nothing,” alleged Suku, who won a seat in the Devgram panchayat on a Communist Party of India (Marxist) ticket, but now claims to support the Trinamool Congress.

BJP North Nadia chief Arjun Biswas alleged that Trinamool Congress members killed Sheikh, PTI reported. However, Rukbanur Rahman, a Trinamool Congress leader from the district, claimed that the murder was the result of a family feud and his party had nothing to do with it.

The police also claimed that Sheikh was killed due to personal enmity and not due to political reasons. Attempts were being made to arrest the attackers, the police added.