At least 8 people were burnt alive after Bhadu Sheikh, a TMC leader and deputy pradhan of a village in Rampurhat area, Birbhum district, was allegedly murdered on Monday night.

“Eight people were killed in the incident. Seven dead bodies were recovered from a single house. One among the three injured died today morning at the hospital,” said DGP Manoj Malviya.

Bhadu Sheikh was allegedly attacked with bombs when he was at a shop on NH-60. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead. Sheikh’s supporters then launched a mob attack on around a dozen houses in his village and set them on fire.

The mob did not allow fire fighters to reach the spot on time. By the time the fire was brought under control the bodies had been completely charred and could not be identified. Seven bodies were recovered from a single house. They have been sent to Rampurhat medical college hospital. The identities, age and gender of the deceased are not known as yet.

While ANI has identified Sheikh as a leader of the ruling TMC, Times of India has suppressed that information and merely reported him as a panchayat leader.

11 people have been arrested in the case, and some Rampurhat police officials have been removed from their posts. A special invesigation team has been formed to investigate the matter.

Birbhum is one of the worst districts in WB vis a vis political terror. Here, murder-accused TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal has decimated almost any trace of political opposition. The recent municipal elections witnessed no contest in several wards and a ridiculous ‘victory’ margin for TMC.

Last week, two councillors were shot dead in West Bengla – one from the Congress and another from the TMC. In this case too, it is likely that an internal TMC feud led to Sheikh’s murder and the retaliatory mob attack by his supporters.

How much longer will the Indian state look the other way while such carnage plays out openly in a sensitive border state? It has been clear for some time now that West Bengal is being ruled like a blood-soaked dictatorship, with large scale political terror perpetrated by the ruling party. The situation is equally bad or worse than that in Kashmir, so why is President’s Rule not being imposed?