Kolkata, May 24 -- Following the arrests of several Trinamool Congress leaders on Saturday, more leaders and associates of the former ruling party were arrested from different parts of the state on Sunday in connection with various criminal allegations.
In New Town, police arrested Rita Gayen, the Pradhan of Jyangra-Hatiara 2 Panchayat, on charges of alleged extortion. Police sources claimed that she was also allegedly involved in several other illegal activities. During the Panchayat elections, residents of the Jyangra-Hatiara 2 Panchayat area had allegedly complained that voters were threatened with dire consequences if they attempted to cast their votes. Locals had further alleged that Gayen played a key role in the alleged manipulation during the polls.
In another development, police in Arambag arrested local TMC leader Rakesh Ali for allegedly storing weapons and bombs on the rooftop of a party office near the Arambag bus stand. Following the Assembly election results, police had raided the office and reportedly recovered several sharp weapons and bombs. Soon after news of the raid surfaced, Ali, considered an influential TMC leader in the area, allegedly went absconding. Acting on a tip-off, police arrested him from his hideout on Sunday.
In Bankura, Gangajalghati Panchayat Samiti's Kridhi Karnadhyaksha, Pallab Pandey, was arrested for allegedly duping a job seeker of several lakh rupees. It was alleged that Pandey had promised a government job to the son of a resident of Gangajalghati block and later handed over a fake appointment letter after taking money. In a separate case, Bapi Chakraborty, husband of Bankura Municipality Ward No. 15 councillor Pinki Chakraborty, was arrested on charges of illegal confinement and extortion. Police alleged that in 2023 he had confined a local resident, Prabhat Ranjan Gupta, and pressured him to pay Rs 3 lakh.
Amid the arrests of TMC leaders, a Home Guard personnel of Howrah City Police was also arrested in Sankrail on allegations of extortion on behalf of a local TMC leader. The accused, identified as Sahin Molla alias Sunny, allegedly used to extort money from local shopkeepers.
Meanwhile, in North 24-Parganas, TMC leader Abhijit Roy alias Bony of Kanchrapara was arrested from Mandarmani in connection with an Arms Act case registered at Bijpur police station. Roy had gained attention after a confrontation with BJP leader Arjun Singh during the 2024 elections went viral on social media.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.