Advertisement
Narayanpur: In a sudden turn of events, Chhattisgarh BJP leader Ratan Dubey was murdered by unidentified Naxalites in the insurgency-hit Narayanpur district on Saturday, the police said. This incident came three days before the first phase of state assembly polls, scheduled to take place on November 7.
According to senior police official, Dubey was hacked at around 5:30 pm with a sharp-edged weapon in the Kaushalnar market area under the Jharaghati police station area while he was campaigning for Assembly polls scheduled for November 7 and 17. This incident created chaos in the area. A team has been dispatched to the location, and anything in connection with the case will be cleared after the probe, he said.
As soon as information about the incident was received, the police immediately reached the spot. The police recovered the body and was brought to Narayanpur town and started investigating the case. Security forces have launched an operation in the area to trace the unidentified assailants.
According to an eyewitness, when Dubey was addressing a gathering of people, two persons came out of the crowd and attacked him on his head from behind.
“Dubey ran towards his car and tried to get inside but a few more persons surrounded him and attacked him with sharp-edged weapons leading to his death on the spot. The incident led to chaos. BJP workers later rushed to the police station located around 5 kilometers away from the site,” an additional superintendent said.
Ratan Dubey was the vice president of the BJP’s Narayanpur district unit and the area’s Assembly convenor. The incident comes three days ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. Assembly elections will be held in the state in two phases, on November 7 and 17.
BJP Chhattisgarh in charge, Om Prakash Mathur slammed the state government for the worsening law and order situation over the killing of the BJP leader.
“While Ratan Dubey he was chairing a meeting with the party workers in an interior village, was attacked by the Naxals…I appeal to the party workers & leaders that we will take revenge for this by winning the elections. We are with his family…Target killings are happening continuously. This shows that the law & order situation in the state is worsening…” he said.
BJP leader Om Mathur said that Ratan Dubey ji was brutally attacked by Naxalites during his campaign, he wrote in an X post, said, “I am deeply saddened by the brutal murder of Chhattisgarh BJP’s Narayanpur Assembly convenor and Narayanpur district vice president Ratan Dubey ji by Naxalites during the campaign. The entire party condemns this cowardly incident.”
