FORMER West Bengal Assembly Deputy Speaker and TMC leader Ashis Banerjee was found hanging at a party office near his residence in B i r b h u m ’s R a m p u r h a t on Sunday, with a purported suicide note recovered from the premises, police said. The death triggered a political blame game, with rivalTMC factions and the BJP trading allegations over the circumstances surrounding his death. Banerjee, 74, who represented Rampurhat for five consecutive terms and served as a Minister and Deputy Speaker, was found dead at the TMC office in Hattala Para, police said. His body was sent for postmortem, while investigators are examining the circumstances of his death and the authenticity and contents of the purported hand-written note. The one-page note, which has circulated widely on social media, is learnt to have said nobody was responsible for his death and expressed regret over his decision to enter politics. It also reportedly claimed that he had never been involved in corruption or taken money in exchange for any work. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter. According to the note, Banerjee said he had often disagreed with “wrongdoings” within the party but had been unable to protest against them. It also reportedly referred to the Tarapith-Rampurhat Development Authority, saying he had no role in tender decisions, cheque issuance, plan approvals or no-objection certificates.

 

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari described Banerjee as a widely respected and honest politician and educationist and said the possibility of threats or blackmail should be investigated. “There could have been someone among the corrupt people who told him, ‘We will name you’. Whether someone among the corrupt elements of the TMC threatened or blackmailed him needs to be investigated,” Adhikari said, referring to Banerjee’s reported distance from the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC after the 2026 Assembly election. Adhikari said he had asked the DGP and Birbhum SP to examine Banerjee’s mobile phones to determine whether he had received any threatening calls or messages. He also said the purported suicide note would be sent for forensic examination to establish whether it was genuinely written by Banerjee. “Nobody will call him corrupt. He was an educationist and a gentleman politician. I cannot give the same certificate to some of his associates,” he said. MAMATA SAYS EX-DEPUTY SPEAKER ASHIS BANERJEE FACED IMMENSE MENTAL PRESSURE IN FINAL DAYS: FORMER West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the death of ex-deputy speaker Ashis Banerjee has left her “deeply disturbed”, alleging that he was repeatedly maligned, falsely accused and subjected to immense mental and emotional pressure in his final days. Ashis Banerjee’s body was found hanging at a TMC party office near his residence in Rampurhat in Birbhum district on Sunday morning