A 51-year-old man who was allegedly assaulted in West Bengal while trying to protect his son, a Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activist, died of his injuries on August 15. His son, Sekh Abdul Hafeez, had returned to their village in Bankura after participating in the CJP protest in Delhi and had begun documenting the dilapidated condition of the local government primary school. According to the family, his activism and social media posts angered local BJP supporters, who subsequently targeted him and his family.
The victim, Sekh Mohammad Mafik, was assaulted at his home in Karisunda village in Indas block of Bankura district on August 13. He suffered a head injury after he had been allegedly attacked with a tangi, a type of scythe, while intervening to protect his son.
Hafeez, also known as Rik, had participated in the CJP protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. His Facebook timeline has several videos from the protest, including one of his meeting with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke. After returning to his village, he took part in the “School Thik Karo” campaign launched by Dipke. The campaign seeks to highlight shortcomings in India’s government schools and push for improvements.
In a video that subsequently went viral, Hafeez documented his account of the August 13 assault. He said he had gone to Karisunda Paschimpara Primary School to document its poor condition, including the state of its bathroom and classroom ceilings. The headmaster, Kashinath Dey, asked him to return the following day. However, according to Hafeez, a group of BJP supporters instead went to his home and attacked him that evening.
Hafeez showed marks of assault on his neck and arm in the video and said his father was attacked with a tangi, suffering a head injury.
The video has since been removed from Hafeez’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Speaking to Alt News minutes before performing his father’s last rites on August 16, he said the BJP workers and supporters who attacked him had taken away his mobile phone and deleted the videos documenting the assault. He was yet to recover the phone.
What the FIR Says
Alt News accessed the FIR lodged by the deceased’s wife, Hasina Begum, at Indas police station on August 16. In her complaint, she alleged that the mob was instigated by Kashinath Dey, the headmaster of the primary school. According to her complaint, the group attacked the family’s house around 8 pm on August 13.
The attack was allegedly carried out by Sekh Azad, Srikanta Majhi, Rohit Majhi, Oshtom Majhi and Prasanta Majhi, along with eight to 10 unidentified men.
The FIR alleges that the attackers, armed with sticks, rods and other weapons, assaulted both Hafeez and Mafik inside their home. The accused have been booked under BNS sections 329(4), 331(4), 126(2), 117(2), 118(2), 304(2), 351(3), 109, 103(1), 61(2), 324(4) and 3(5).
According to the duty officer at Indas police station who spoke to Alt News, eight people have been arrested in connection with the case. They are Sekh Azad, Srikanta Majhi, Prasanta Ruidas, Rohit Majhi, Bablu Majhi, Santu Majhi, Tinku Kewra and Oshtom Majhi. Of these, Azad, Srikanta Majhi and Oshtom Majhi were named in the FIR.
The accused were produced before the Bishnupur sub-divisional court. The court remanded Azad, Srikanta Majhi and Oshtom Majhi to eight days of police custody, while the remaining five were sent to judicial custody.
According to local sources, Oshtom Majhi is a BJP leader in Karisunda village. The other accused, including Azad, are also active BJP workers and supporters.
‘They Said I Had Joined a Terrorist Organisation’
Speaking to Alt News, Hafeez said he was targeted by local BJP workers because he had travelled to Delhi to participate in the CJP protest and had regularly uploaded videos from the demonstrations. He said the videos received thousands of views, attracting the attention of BJP workers in his village.
After he returned home following Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, he said he was singled out and heckled by local BJP workers.
“On July 28, BJP workers such as Sekh Azad, Pintu Majhi, Srikanta Majhi rounded me up on the village road and threatened that if I don’t stop supporting CJP and uploading videos they would evict me and force me to flee from my village. These BJP men are marked anti-socials and people like Sekh Azad has close ties with the local MLA,” Hafeez said.
Hafeez said his mother called Azad on the night of July 28 to ask why he had harassed her son. According to Hafeez, Azad told her: “Your son has joined a terrorist organization. He is getting paid by Pakistan. Ask him to mend his ways or we will take the necessary actions.”
The BJP workers later allegedly came to Hafeez’s house and ordered him to appear before a kangaroo court scheduled for August 9.
A blood donation camp organised by the BJP was held in the village that day, with the local BJP MLA and other leaders attending. Hafeez said local BJP workers initially appeared intent on confronting him there, but the kangaroo court did not take place for reasons unknown to him.
“In our villages the only verdict they give in these courts is to beat and break the bones of the accused. They also planned to do similar things with me for sure,” Hafeez said.
Although the kangaroo court did not materialise on August 9, Hafeez said the threats continued.
Attack over School Campaign
After Abhijeet Dipke launched the ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign, Hafeez approached Kashinath Dey, the headmaster of Karisunda Paschimpara Primary School, on August 13 to ask whether he could document the school’s dilapidated condition, including its bathroom and classroom ceilings. Dey, who is also the booth-level officer (BLO), asked him to return the next day.
“Around 8:30 pm a crowd gathered in front our house. It was led by the known BJP faces such as Azad, Srikanta, Oshtom among others. It was a deadly gathering. They disconnected the electric connection of our house before starting the attack. I was slapped and thrashed and assaulted numerous times and to protect me my father intervened. He was also assaulted and his head got fractured. In the meantime, I got inside the house and started shooting the assault with my phone,” Hafeez said.
Indas police station is around 20 minutes from Karisunda village. However, according to Hafeez, the first police team reached the spot more than two hours after the attack.
“The BJP men had practically laid siege to the entire area. Instead of dispersing the mob, the police just got us a vehicle so that we could take him to Indas block primary health centre. Although my father was bleeding, no police personnel went with us to the hospital. Also the police initially tried to arrest me but as I started making video and incited Article 19 of the Constitution, they stepped back,” he said.
The situation allegedly escalated at the health centre.
Hafeez said BJP workers had surrounded the health centre. He and his father received only basic treatment before Mafik was referred elsewhere rather than admitted.
According to Hafeez, the attackers assaulted him and his father again outside the hospital. He said they forcibly took him to a corner, snatched his phone and deleted videos of the assault that he had uploaded on social media. The assault video uploaded by Hafeez on August 13 had garnered nearly 2.2 million views within two hours.
FIR Delayed
Hafeez and his family immediately sought to lodge an FIR and requested a medico-legal certificate from the health centre. According to them, the certificate was denied.
They also alleged that BJP workers mobilised outside the police station to prevent the family from lodging the FIR. With no other option, the family took Mafik back home. He remained there throughout August 14 without further medical treatment, while BJP workers allegedly continued to surround the area.
Fearing for his life, Hafeez then fled the village with the help of members of other opposition parties. CJP’s West Bengal leadership sheltered him at an undisclosed location.
As Mafik’s condition deteriorated, Hasina Begum took him back to Indas Block Primary Health Centre on August 15, from where he was moved to Bardhaman Medical College and Hospital. Mafik died there around 8 pm that day.
The family formally lodged the FIR on August 16. Mafik’s body was brought from Bardhaman Medical College to his native village that evening, and his last rites continued well into the night.
No BJP Involvement, Says CM
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, speaking about the incident on August 16, said the accused were criminals and were not associated with the BJP. He pointed out that three of the named accused had been promptly arrested and said the remaining accused would be arrested soon. He also stressed that the BJP had not been named in the FIR and that action against the accused would be taken according to law.
CJP West Bengal leader Dedipya Ganguly disputed the chief minister’s account.
“Our activist was literally hounded out from his home just because of his political conviction. He had to lose his father because of the extremely sorry state of law and order in West Bengal. This tragedy could have been averted, had the administration discharged their duty properly,” Ganguly said.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke expressed his anger at Mafik’s alleged killing. In a post on X, he wrote: “Abdul went to inspect the government school in Bengal where he once studied. He lost his father after they were attacked by goons (allegedly from BJP) for speaking up about the poor condition of government schools. It makes my blood boil that people are being murdered simply for demanding better schools.”
Abdul went to inspect the govt school in Bengal where he once studied. He lost his father after they were attacked by goons (allegedly from BJP) for speaking up about the poor condition of govt schools.
It makes my blood boil that people are being murdered simply for demanding… pic.twitter.com/S9PtFPGIMk
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) August 16, 2026
CJP co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka announced on August 16 that a delegation from the outfit would visit Karisunda village the following day. “Abdul’s only mistake was that he wanted to get his village school repaired. But BJP’s goons beat his father so badly that he died.” he wrote on X.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Anindya Hazra.