KOLKATA, June 30 -- The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Md Shakir Ali, in connection with the 2023 communal violence during Ram Navami celebrations in Hooghly district's Rishra town.

Ali, the councillor from Ward 4 at Rishra municipality, is the husband of Aparupa Poddar, the TMC MP from Arambagh from 2014 to 2024.

An NIA team arrived at Rishra on Tuesday morning and started questioning Shakir Ali at his residence. He was formally placed under arrest at 3:30pm after hours of questioning.

"Some local people tried to block the road when the NIA team was leaving with Ali but we dispersed the crowd," a district police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Poddar, too, w...