Kolkata, Aug 16: The police on Sunday arrested three persons, including one Trinamool Congress village panchayat chief, in connection with the murder of a Congress leader, Anisur Rahman, and his 24-year-old son Abu Sufian at Bethuadahari under Nakashipara Police Station in West Bengal’s Nadia district.

The incident had happened late Saturday night. Fatema Bibi, the head of Haranagar village panchayat in Nadia district, was one of the three persons arrested here. Her husband, Jubbar Sheikh, an influential Trinamool leader in the area, has been in judicial custody, and the local Congress leadership accused him of being the mastermind behind the murders of Anisur Rahman and Abu Sufian.

In addition, two of Fatema’s associates, namely Ali Mandal and Mithun Sheikh, have also been arrested. They have already been produced in the court after a medical examination in the morning. The police have sought custody for three of them.

It is learnt that Anisur Rahman and Abu Sufian were returning home in a four-wheeler on Saturday night. At that time, the miscreants blocked their road and allegedly fired several rounds of bullets. The car was forcibly stopped, and the father and son were beaten with sharp weapons. According to sources, both died on the spot due to excessive bleeding.

After receiving information about this incident, the police from the Nakashipara police station reached the spot.

The Congress leadership in the Nadia district has claimed that the country’s oldest national party was fast occupying the principal opposition space in the district after the landslide defeat of the previous ruling party, Trinamool Congress, in the recently concluded Assembly polls.

“Anisur Rahman and his son were playing the key role in regaining our party’s space as the principal opposition force in the state. That is exactly why the father and the son became an eyesore for the local Trinamool Congress leadership, especially Fatema Bibi and his currently jailed husband, who had always been involved with all sorts of notorious and anti-social activities in the district. But no one expected that the sequence of events would take such a nasty turn. It was not just a simple murder. The assassin rather wanted to leave a message through the ghastly manner in which the father and his son were killed,” said a local Congress leader.

West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee was observing a ‘black day’ throughout the state as a mark of protest against the assassination. Both the current and former state Congress presidents, Suvankar Sarkar and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, have demanded a speedy probe in the matter and the strictest punishment for those involved in the murder.

New Delhi, Aug 16: A sanitation worker employed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was stabbed to death while on duty in Delhi’s Kalyanpuri area on Sunday morning.

CCTV footage reportedly shows the accused attacking the sanitation worker with a knife. A Delhi Police team is currently examining the footage and other evidence to trace the assailant.

The deceased has been identified as 24-year-old Anil Kumar, an MCD sanitation worker. According to preliminary information, Anil was performing his duties in Kalyanpuri around 7 a.m. on Sunday when he was attacked with a knife, officials said.

The accused fled the scene after the incident.

Upon receiving the information, the police arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation. Officials said that multiple teams have been formed to apprehend the accused using the CCTV footage.

Following the incident, BJP Trilokpuri MLA Ravi Kant visited the site and condoled the death of the worker.

Speaking to media , he described it as a “deeply tragic” event. “While the rest of Delhi sleeps, it is these workers who perform the task of waking the city up. We stand in solidarity with the victim’s family,” he said.

The BJP MLA stated that the perpetrator has been identified and that strict action will be taken against him.

Kant further said, “I have seen the CCTV footage. Anil was doing his job when the accused suddenly approached and attacked him.”

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar spoke to media, stating, “A sanitation worker was brazenly murdered in Kalyanpuri. Has Kalyanpuri become the crime capital? Murders are taking place all over Delhi.”

“Think about the plight of the family of a sanitation worker who performs his job. When he collects garbage, it is not because he enjoys the work; due to financial circumstances and the inability to find other employment, he is compelled to collect garbage. He has been murdered,” Kumar said.

He further demanded a police encounter of the accused to “set a precedent and ensure no one else commits such a crime”.

The AAP MLA also demanded that the victim’s family be provided with compensation and that a family member be given a job.

New Delhi, Aug 16: Amid a row over the conduct of senior Congress leaders during the rendition of the national song Vande Mataram, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the former, saying that their behaviour reflected a “dimagi naxal mindset”.

This comes a day after a video from the Independence Day event at Indira Bhawan, showed Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Sonia Gandhi gesturing and speaking among themselves. Both the senior leaders then called a party worker and apparently instructed him something. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was also seen looking towards the senior leaders.

Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said: “Opposition to Vande Mataram can only be done by people with the mindset of a ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem. This very mindset of the ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem was seen by us yesterday. The opposition of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi towards Vande Mataram on the day of Independence, points towards a ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem mindset.”

Holding printouts of screenshots from the Congress event, he said some of the party’s leaders have attempted to issue a clarification following the incident.

Bhandari was referring to Congress MP Jairam Ramesh’s defence, “There was no attempt to stop it (the song), because the Congress President had been standing for a long time, Sonia Gandhi was saying, ‘Bring a chair for him and place it there’.”

“The Congress didn’t only insult the freedom fighters but also insulted the sovereignty, integrity, and 140 citizens of the country by opposing the rendition of the national song. When Vande Mataram was being rendered at the Congress headquarters, Sonia Gandhi was not only agitated but was behaving in a way as if some crime had been committed,” he said.

Referring to the recent Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Act, 2026, that makes any obstruction to the rendition of the national song a criminal offence, Bhandari accused the Congress leaders of violating the Act and “standing alongside fringe forces”.

Further, the BJP leader asked Congress to apologise within 24 hours for insulting the sentiments of crores of people, if they have “even an iota of patriotism”.

“But they will not apologise because the ringleader and political patron of this entire ‘dimagi Naxal’ ecosystem is Rahul Gandhi. Also, since the Congress government in Kerala has skipped singing Vande Mataram from official events, does this not make it clear that all allegations against the Congress party — that they lack even an iota of nationalism and patriotism — stand proven true?” Pradeep Bhandari remarked.

He added: “This also proves that whatever Jairam Ramesh stated was a blatant, outright lie.”