A man was hacked to death during a clash between two groups in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place at Hatihalka in Medinipur Sadar area on Friday night. The deceased has been identified as Samsher Khan.
Locals said Khan was associated with the BJP, a claim denied by the party's newly appointed organisational district president Soumen Tiwari.
Some of the residents alleged that Tiwari's elevation led to tension between two factions of the party, who allegedly attacked each other with sharp-edged weapons, sticks and iron rods.
Khan was allegedly struck with a 'tangi', a sharp-edged weapon, resulting in his death, they said.
Tiwari said he had learnt about the incident but denied that Khan was a BJP worker.
"I have heard that an incident has taken place. As far as I know, the deceased is not a BJP worker," Tiwari said.
He alleged that some people were attempting to take control of the area following the recent change in the political situation in the state and expressed confidence that police would take appropriate action.
Some BJP workers demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible and said they would not take the body home until the accused were arrested.
Several BJP workers gathered at Medinipur Medical College and Hospital, where additional police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
BJP district vice-president Ajay Jana said the circumstances leading to the clash would become clear during the investigation.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
