A BJP leader was gunned down by unidentified gunmen on a highway at Shaktigarh in Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal on Saturday evening, reports said.

According to the police, unidentified attackers opened fire on the car in which Businessman-politician Raju Jha was travelling in along with three other people.

Giving details, a senior official said Raju Jha and some colleagues were on their way to Kolkata when the car they were travelling in was fired upon by the assailants outside a confectionery shop in Shaktigarh. He said that Jha and his three colleagues sustained bullet injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared the BJP leader dead on arrival, while his injured colleagues are receiving treatment and their condition is stated to be stable.

Superintendent of Police, Bardhaman, Kamnashish Sen said a case has been registered in this regard, however, the motive behind the assassination of Jha is yet to be ascertained, adding that further investigation is ongoing.

As per local media reports, Jha and his friends stopped at Shaktigar enroute Kolkata and parked the car off the highway when the attacker pulled up in another car, showered a volley of bullets on the saffron party leader and his associates, and then fled the scene.

SP Sen said nearby security camera footage is being scanned and the driver’s statement is also being recorded by the police.

Reports quoting sources said that local vendors are being questioned by the police in a bid to trace the car used in the assassination

Raju Jha, a prominent Durgapur-based businessman, who was accused of running an illegal coal business in Silpanchal during the Left Front regime in West Bengal and also has several cases lodged against him under the current Trinamool Congress rule in the state, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of last assembly polls in December 2021.

Following the celebrations of Ram Navami in Bihar, tensions gripped the state as reports of clashes came to light in Rohtas and Nalanda districts yesterday. It was reported that the violence led to a death in the state.

As per the reports, one person was killed whereas several others were injured due to the clash that broke out between two groups on Saturday night in Nalanda’s Biharsharif. Whereas Rohtas’s Sasaram Town also witness a similar predicament, six people were injured due to a blast that happened at a house.

Following the blast at the house in Sasaramm, the police have told the media that they have seized two vehicles from the site. The police have also told the media that the injured are undergoing treatment at a Sasaram hospital and the probe by the police is underway.

Following clashes in Nalanda, the police have imposed prohibitory orders including the imposition of section 144. The police actions come in a bid to take control of the law and order situation in the district.

It was reported that the police have also arrested over 80 people in Nalanda. The District Magistrate of Nalanda, Shashank Shubhankar, held meetings with community leaders in an effort to maintain peace and order in the area.
The police force has also been increased in Nalanda and Rohtas and senior officials are visiting the affected areas. The authorities have also told the media that the authorities are keeping an eye out on social media to monitor if any provocative and false news is not being spread.

The clashes in Bihar’s Nalanda and Rohtas districts come after tensions prevailed in parts of the state from Thursday over taking out Ram Navami processions. The tensions further escalated into clashes on Friday and now spilled over to Saturday as well.

Addressing the situation in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that communal tensions during Ram Navami festivities at Sasaram and Bihar Sharif are disturbing and also added that such incidents happened are unprecedented in the area. He said the clashes are not natural.

Bihar CM also said that the police are trying to trace the perpetrators and affirmed that strict actions will be taken against them.

Mumbai Police on Saturday arrested a man for sending death threats to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. The man also threatened Raut to kill him like Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who was shot dead last year.

The accused, identified as Rahul Talekar, was apprehended by the Pune and Mumbai Police from the Kharadi area, hours after Raut and his brother MLA Sunil Raut filed a threat complaint at the Kanjurmarg Police Station.

During the interrogation, Talekar, who has no criminal records, claimed that he sent threatening messages when he was drunk. Considering the prima facie, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said he might have issued the threat under the influence of alcohol and assured people that strict action will be taken against him.

The Mumbai Police have booked Talekar under Section 506-II (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Talekar, originally from Jalna, called Raut Hindu virodhi in a WhatsApp threat message. He wrote, Delhi me mil tu ak 47 se uda dunga. Moosewala type. Lawrence ke or se msg he soch ke… Salman aur tu Fix. Tyatil karke rakhna (sic).

Talekar threatened Raut to kill him with AK-47 in Delhi, just like Sidhu Moose Wala. He also threatened to kill Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Police suspect the name Lawrence in the message refers to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

Rahul Talekar runs an eatery in Pune. According to the police, he sent the abusive threat message to Raut over WhatsApp on Friday after failing to reach the MP over the phone. The police said Rahul Talekar had learned about Bishnoi from social media and thought he could his name to send the threatening message to Sanjay Raut.

For the unversed, Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead last year in May in the Mansa district of Punjab. Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, a member of the Bishnoi gang, claimed responsibility for the murder.

A few days later, the Bishnoi gang also sent a threat letter to Salman Khan for killing their sacred animal blackbuck during the shooting of the film in 1998. The city police are already probing the Salman Khan threat case and Talekar will be questioned in connection with that too, the official added.