Shantipur (WB), February 5 (PTI): Former TMC MLA from Shantipur Arindam Bhattacharya, who recently switched over to the BJP, received death threats on Friday morning, with miscreants asking him to immediately leave the constituency in Bengal's Nadia district, a police officer said.
The threats, written in Bengali on walls in two places -- one in Shantipur's Bagdebi area and another in Bagachra -- were first noticed by local BJP party workers.
"Leave Shantipur in the next seven days or else you will be solely responsible for your murder," the threats read.
Bhattacharya, who gets 'Y category' security after joining the BJP, said "such threats are not new to him".
"I have not lodged any complaint with the police. This is not new to me. I have been receiving death threats since I joined the BJP. Earlier, I was also attacked... Lodging complaints with the police do not help. I have informed my seniors in the party," Bhattacharya told PTI when contacted.
Alleging that TMC leaders had been trying to intimidate him, Bhattacharya, who resides in the city and visits the constituency from time to time, said, "This is a ploy to scare me. I will not give in and fight from Shantipur again. This shows lawlessness has increased in the state."
Local police, meanwhile, whitewashed the threats written on the walls.
"We have not received any complaint in this context.
But our officers have wiped off the threats written on the walls. We are speaking to locals to find out who all are involved in the matter," a senior officer of Shantipur Police Station said.
The former legislator, who was elected in 2016 on a Congress ticket, had crossed over to the TMC within a year.
This January, he joined the BJP, claiming that he was not being able to work freely as a member of the ruling camp.
