Overview
- Police found Asish Banerjee hanging in a Trinamool Congress office in Hattala Para, Rampurhat, and recovered a one‑page handwritten note near his body.
- The note, which has circulated on social media, reportedly denies any involvement in corruption, says entering politics was a mistake, and states that no one was responsible for his death; its authorship has not been independently verified.
- Authorities sent the body for post‑mortem and the West Bengal government ordered forensic testing of the note plus an examination of Banerjee’s mobile phones to check for threats or corroborating evidence.
- The death, which police treated as a suspected suicide, has provoked immediate political accusations with TMC leaders blaming a smear campaign and the BJP and a rival TMC faction urging a neutral probe.
- Banerjee was a five‑term MLA and former deputy speaker who lost his Rampurhat seat in the May 2026 election, and his death highlights broader tensions as multiple former TMC figures face corruption inquiries.