“After raising his voice about the school, my father was killed. I regret that I could never hug him or express my love for him. My father taught me this, so now we will make sure to improve the condition of schools. Wherever there is injustice, Abdul will be there.”
Twenty-five-year-old Sheikh Abdul Hafiz becomes emotional while remembering his father. BJP workers allegedly attacked Abdul and his father, Sheikh Mohammad Mafiq, after getting angry over them highlighting the poor condition of the village government school. Mafiq died on August 15 due to serious injuries.
So far, 11 people have been arrested in the case. Abdul is a member of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and lives in Karishunda village in West Bengal’s Bankura district. The accused are also from the same village. There is an atmosphere of fear in the village following the incident. Most of the accused have locked their homes, and their families have left the village.
The Bhaskar team arrived to report via a muddy road.
What is the condition of Abdul’s family now? What is the condition of the government school where the dispute began? And what does the BJP have to say about the allegations? To find out, the Dainik Bhaskar team reached Abdul’s village on the ground.
First, Abdul’s account
CJP leader Ashutosh Ranka also visited the village on August 17 to meet Abdul after the incident. Abdul’s village, Karishunda, is located in Bankura district, around 150 km from Kolkata.
There is no proper road to reach Abdul’s house in the village. The route is muddy and waterlogged. The conditions remain the same throughout the monsoon. As soon as we entered the village, the first thing we saw was a heavy police presence.
Ashutosh Ranka met Abdul on August 18.
Police Deployed at Abdul’s House for Security
Two male police officers and one female police officer have also been deployed outside Abdul’s house. For security reasons, no one is allowed to visit Abdul’s house without registering their entry and obtaining permission from the police. Abdul’s mother and 21-year-old sister are at his house; in addition, 12 CJP workers who arrived from Delhi are also staying there.
Three police officers have been deployed outside Abdul’s house.
Mother hugged the children when their father was mentioned
Abdul’s family members call him Reek. Abdul lived with his father, mother, and sister in a two-room house without plaster. His sister moved away earlier this year for a job. After their father’s death, Abdul and his mother now live in the house.
Whenever their father is mentioned, Abdul’s mother hugs both children. Both children become emotional, but the mother does not let her feelings show on her face. Their father used to deliver wholesale goods to shops, and the household was run on his earnings. Abdul is currently unemployed. However, he did work as a delivery boy for some time while living in Kolkata.
A tricolor flag was also seen installed at Abdul’s house, a two-room home without plaster.
Abdul said-Assaulted after returning from Jantar Mantar
“I have been associated with the CJP movement from the beginning. I had also gone to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. I stayed there until July 26. I returned home by train on July 27. After this, some people from the village began to resent me.”
“I was assaulted for the first time on July 28. BJP workers surrounded me and began pushing and shoving me. They asked why I had gone to Delhi. After this, they began vandalizing my scooter and threatened to kill me.”
“The villagers intervened and calmed the situation. After that, my old phone was snatched away. It contained several important pieces of evidence. I had also gone to Indus Police Station to report the first assault, but the police did not take the matter seriously. The people who attacked my family on August 13 were the same ones who had assaulted me earlier.” They became enraged when he showed the school’s condition
Abdul says that on the morning of August 13, as part of the “Fix the School” movement, he had gone to his old primary school. There, he asked Kasinath De, the teacher in charge, for permission to show the problems at the school. He asked Abdul for his name and address.
Abdul alleges:
That same night at 8 p.m., BJP goons came to the house. The power went out, and they began slapping, kicking, and punching me in the dark. One man came carrying a sharp-edged iron rod, but I managed to escape in the darkness. They also beat my father very badly. We escaped and called the police, but they did not stop even in front of the police.
Abdul further explains that his father suffered more serious injuries. The accused also assaulted his father in the hospital. They threatened to kill him in front of the police. Then, on August 14, between 10 and 11 in the morning, three goons came to the house and began pressuring us to reach a settlement. They wanted us to go live on Facebook and apologize. But we refused to bow down.
Abdul with his mother in the hospital. His father, Sheikh Mohammad Mafiq (right).
Abdul said-the school was repaired and painted
Abdul alleges that after the incident, painting and repair work was hurriedly carried out at the government primary school in Karishunda. The school, located about 200 meters from Abdul’s home, showed signs of fresh paint and plaster on its walls.
Villagers and children also said that the work had been done recently. However, teacher Anand Mandal claimed that the repairs had been carried out 8-10 months ago. The school has six rooms, two toilets, and a monitor for smart classes. According to head teacher Kashinath De, Abdul and his sister studied at this school.
Bankura DM Anil Das Gupta said that there are no major complaints regarding the government school in the village. The school has around 150 students and 4 teachers. There are already two toilets, while work on another toilet for girls is underway. Smart classrooms are also being built in the school.
After the incident, painting and repair work at the government school was carried out in a hurry.
CJP workers stay at Abdul’s house; locks placed on the accused’s houses
Apart from police personnel, around 12 CJP workers are also staying at Abdul’s house. They include Junaid, who had brought food for the protesters at Jantar Mantar.
An FIR has been registered against 5 people in the case of Sheikh Mohammad Mafiq’s death. They include Sheikh Azad, Shrikant Majhi, Rohit Majhi, Ashtam Majhi, and Prashant Majhi (Ruidas). In addition, the FIR mentions 8 to 10 other unidentified people who are accused of entering the house and carrying out the attack.
So far, the police have arrested 11 people. We visited the homes of Sheikh Azad and Pintu Majhi. Both houses were locked. Neighbors said that their families had left the village around August 17.
Photos of the accused with BJP MLA Nirmal go viral
Karishunda village falls under the Indus Assembly constituency. The BJP’s Nirmal Dhara has been the MLA here since 2021. When he visited the village during the 2025 Assembly elections, the accused, Sheikh Azad and Prashant Majhi, were present at his welcome and at the BJP program. The other accused are also said to be close to MLA Nirmal Dhara.
However, Nirmal has not made any statement since the incident. We called and messaged him to speak with him, but no response has been received yet.
