Kolkata, Jun 10 (IANS): Post-poll violence-related tension was prevailing in the Hariharpara area in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Monday following the killing of a local Trinamool Congress leader in a shootout.

The injured local leader, Sanatan Ghosh, who suffered multiple bullet injuries, was shifted to Murshidabad Medical College & Hospital where he was declared dead. His body has been sent for post-mortem.

Locals have informed the police that Ghosh, also a local milk trader by profession, was suddenly surrounded by a group of assassins who came in motorcycles shot at him from a close range and escaped.

A political slugfest has already started in the locality over the murder. Local Trinamool Congress leader Rocky Sheikh has claimed that Ghosh’s murder was the handiwork of goons backed by the BJP. “Ghosh used to play an important role in the locality on behalf of Trinamool Congress throughout the year, especially as regards public networking and he paid the price for that,” Sheikh claimed.

However, the local BJP leadership has claimed the actual reason behind the murder was the long internal rivalry between two factions of the ruling party.

Meanwhile, sources from the district police said that some old feud or tension might have prompted the assassination of Ghosh. The cops are now trying to probe whether the old feud was political in nature or personal.

However, the additional police superintendent of Murshidabad district police Majid Iqbal Khan has claimed that probably some old-related feud was the main reason behind the murder. “Police are carrying out an investigation. The body has been sent for post-mortem,” he said.