CJP Volunteer’s Father Dies After Alleged Attack Over School Audit in Bengal, 3 Arrested

A dispute over the condition of a government school in West Bengal’s Bankura district has escalated into a political controversy after the father of a CJP volunteer died following an alleged assault, with the party accusing BJP workers of involvement and the BJP rejecting the political link.

The incident centres on 25-year-old Shaik Abdul Hafeez, who visited a government primary school in Karisunda on August 13 as part of the Cockroach Janta Party’s “School Thik Karo” campaign, aimed at documenting shortcomings in government schools. According to Hafeez and the CJP, armed men later entered his home and demanded that he record an apology for highlighting the school’s condition. When he refused, they allegedly attacked him and his family.

Hafeez suffered a serious neck injury, while his father, Janab Mafik, sustained critical head injuries after allegedly intervening to protect his son. Mafik died on August 15. Hafeez also alleged that the family faced further intimidation after the first attack, including being surrounded and prevented from leaving.

The CJP has alleged that the attackers were local BJP workers and demanded their immediate arrest. It also accused local police of initially failing to act. Police, however, told Scroll on August 16 that they had not received a complaint at that stage, creating an important dispute over whether authorities were approached and what action followed.

There has since been a significant development. Five people have been named in an FIR and three have been arrested, according to West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on August 16. He rejected the CJP’s allegation of BJP involvement, saying the accused were criminals and that there was “no BJP connection” to the incident.

That leaves the central question unresolved: was the assault politically motivated, as the CJP alleges, or was it a criminal dispute involving individuals with no BJP connection? The FIR, witness statements, medical records and evidence from the alleged attack will be crucial in establishing what actually happened.

The case now has two dimensions, a father’s death following a violent assault and a sharply contested political narrative over who was responsible and why.