BJP leader beaten with bamboo sticks in late-night attack, MLA claims TMC role

A 48-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a state-run hospital in Kolkata after being attacked by a group of assailants allegedly linked to West Bengal's principal opposition party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Local BJP leader Pappu Sana was severely beaten with bamboo sticks by multiple attackers in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday in Narendrapur, a suburb of Kolkata, according to sources within the police. The incident took place at around 2 am. While some of the assailants arrived in a car, others were local residents, the sources said.

The brutal assault was caught on a CCTV camera. Following the attack, the BJP leader was rushed to a local hospital. However, later, he was shifted to the government-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, where he is undergoing treatment in the ICU.

Reacting to the incident, local BJP MLA Debashis Dhar, who is also a former IPS officer, alleged that TMC "goons" were behind the attack on Sana.

"We have kept ourselves restrained to a large extent, but Trinamool's goons will never change. A complaint has already been lodged at Narendrapur Police Station. We will definitely take legal action. But if they do not mend their ways, they will have to face consequences in the future," the legislator stated.

The police have launched an investigation into the matter and CCTV footage has already been collected from a shop near the site of the attack. The incident has also caused tensions to rise in the area. As a result, the police have increased surveillance in the area.

The attack took place days after the BJP formed the government in West Bengal for the first time by defeating the TMC, which had been ruling the state for 15 consecutive years.

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