TMC Leader Shot Dead in Bankura Amid Rash of Party Killings Since July

swift Summary

• Sikandar Khan, a local TMC leader and polling booth unit president, was shot dead in the Sonamukhi area of Bengal’s Bankura district on Monday night.
• He was attacked while returning home on his motorcycle and was shot multiple times in the back and head outside Chakai village.
• This marks the ninth murder of a TMC functionary since July 10, sparking political tension ahead of the 2026 Bengal assembly elections.
• While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged administrative vigilance during a meeting with senior officials, TMC leaders blamed BJP and CPI(M) for fostering criminal violence in the area. Opponents alleged internal TMC conflicts were behind these incidents.
• Khan’s family stated that his killing stemmed from disputes over funds allocated for a new drainage line project.
• Local TMC leaders accused Nasem Khan, an alleged criminal, of murder; police have detained Nasem Khan’s two sons but have yet to apprehend him.
• BJP MLA Dibakar Ghara dismissed allegations against his party and claimed intra-TMC violence caused these deaths.
• The trend includes another prominent case: Amar Roy – son of local gram panchayat chief Kuntala Roy – killed on august 9 in Cooch Behar district allegedly due to internal disputes within the ruling party.

📸 Image Caption: Sikandar Khan was attacked while riding his motorcycle; he sustained bullet wounds to his head and back (Getty Images/iStockphoto).

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Indian Opinion Analysis
The killing of Sikandar Khan highlights serious structural challenges within West Bengal’s political framework as law-and-order issues confront governance dynamics with rising frequency possibly indicating deep systemic fault lines . Regardless whether due criminal-political overlaps