Kolkata, Sept. 20 -- A court in East Midnapore's Haldia sent the Congress's Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan to judicial custody till October 3 on Saturday, a day after his arrest on multiple charges, including murder, dating back 19 years. "Pradhan was produced in a court in Haldia. His bail plea was rejected. The court sent him to judicial custody till October 3," said a senior police officer. To be sure, the arrest and the judicial custody will not disqualify Pradhan from contesting the bypoll to the Nandigram assembly seat scheduled for October 6. However, he will not be able to campaign for himself as the campaign ends on October 4. Adhikari resigned from the Nandigram seat in May, opting to retain Bhabanipur after defeating Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly poll held earlier this year. "The voters of Nandigram may not see Pradhan during the campaign period. They may not see posters and banners. But the people of Nandigram have seen everything that happened. I would urge every voter to stand for Pradhan and lodge their protest through the EVM," state Congress president Subhankar Sarkar said. A senior police officer, on the condition of anonymity, said, "Pradhan was arrested on Friday in a two-decade-old murder case during the 2007 anti-land acquisition protests. He was then shown arrest in total four murder cases in the court. He had been absconding for 19 years." "The ruling party is scared," Pradhan told reporters on his way to the court. The police said in a statement that Pradhan was arrested in connection with four pending non-bailable arrest warrants pending at Nandigram police station. The cases involve serious offences including murder, attempt to murder and abduction with intent to murder. Senior Congress leaders of the state, including the state Congress president, were present in court when Pradhan was produced. "This is autocracy. The ruling party is abusing its power. They are arresting anyone supporting Mamata Banerjee or any person she supports. He was arrested after Banerjee lent her support to the Congress candidate," Kalyan Banerjee, TMC MP known to be a loyalist of Banerjee, told the media. "The Congress in West Bengal has to be seen through binoculars. People remember there was a party named Congress only when they see Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury," said Dilip Ghosh, minister and veteran BJP leader....