Suicide or murder? BJP MLA Debendra Nath Roy found hanging near residence in West Bengal's Hemtabad

The body of Debendra Nath Roy, BJP MLA from Hemtabad, a reserved seat, in Uttar Dinajpur, was found on Monday morning hanging from the balcony of a closed shop near his residence in West Bengal's Bindal village.

According to the latest updates, the police have recovered a suicide note from the pocket of the BJP MLA. The note mentions the names of two persons and reads, “These two people are responsible for my death.”

The names are currently not being shared by the police as their roles need to be investigated. A local inquiry has revealed that Roy had financial dealings with these two persons named in the note.

The MLA had recently sold 6-7 bighas of land due to a financial crisis. But the police yet to comment on whether it was a suicide or murder as the post-mortem report is awaited.

BJP West Bengal and Roy's family has claimed that he was "killed and then hung".

"Body of Shri Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad, a reserved seat, in Uttar Dinajpur, was found hanging like this in Bindal, near his village home. People are of the clear opinion that he was first killed and then hung. His crime? He joined the BJP in 2019," BJP Bengal's tweet read.

Body of Shri Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad, a reserved seat, in Uttar Dinajpur, was found hanging like this in Bindal, near his village home. People are of the clear opinion that he was first killed & then hung.

His crime? He joined the BJP in 2019.

Om Shanti. pic.twitter.com/Zqbh1BZZIq

— BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) July 13, 2020

According to eyewitness reports, the village locals found the MLA on the wee hours of Monday, hanging from a noose on the balcony of a shop in the locality.

Considerable political tensions have spread in the region surrounding the death of the 59-year-old legislator from the Hemtabad Vidhan Sabha seat.

According to Raiganj Zila SP Sumit Kumar, the police reached the spot, after getting the information from local residents, and the body has been sent for post-mortem.

Roy's family has informed that a group of unidentified youth had arrived on motorcycles last night and took the MLA somewhere from his residence. The family claimed that the legislator was "killed and then hung" and has demanded the immediate arrest and the commencement of proceedings against the perpetrators.

Debendra Nath Roy, MLA from Hemtabad, had quit the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] in 2019 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, too, claimed that Roy was murdered and has demanded a CBI inquiry in the matter. He also raised questions regarding the law and order condition in the state. The BJP state leadership will be in Hemtabad today to collect information about the case.