A Bharatiya Janata Party activist’s son was found hanging from a tree on Thursday morning in the Arsha block of West Bengal’s Purulia district, PTI reported. Sishupal Singh, 22, had been missing since Wednesday, said district Superintendent of Police Akash Magharia.

“A missing complaint was filed by Singh’s family members Wednesday evening,” Magharia added. “He was spotted hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Senabona village around 9 am by the locals, who then reported the matter to the police station.”

The BJP has alleged that Singh was murdered and blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress, NDTV reported. The police have registered a case of “unnatural death” and sent the body for autopsy.

The BJP and the ruling party have clashed regularly in the district since violence during the panchayat elections last year left at least 18 people dead across the state. In June, the state Crime Investigation Department arrested a man from Purulia in connection with the murder of 20-year-old Trilochan Mahato – who the BJP claimed was its member. A message scrawled on Mahato’s T-shirt said he had been murdered for working for the saffron party. The BJP claimed it was a political murder linked to the civic body elections.

In September, the Supreme Court directed the state government to file a report within two weeks on the investigation into the alleged killing of three BJP workers.

Purulia, which was a Maoist stronghold, goes to the polls on May 12 in the sixth round of election. In 2014, the Trinamool had won the seat, defeating the incumbent Left Front MP. But this time, the BJP is the ruling party’s primary rival.

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