Kolkata, June 7: Two leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have been arrested by the police in West Bengal in separate cases. Among those arrested are a sitting councillor from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and a former MLA from the party. Both face charges of extortion, corruption, and other allegations.
The councillor, Bappaditya Dasgupta, was arrested on Saturday by the police from the Patuli police station on charges of extortion. Upon his arrival at the police station, a crowd present there shouted slogans against him, calling him a thief.
Bappaditya Dasgupta was previously associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before joining TMC in 2010 with the help of former minister Partha Chatterjee. He first became a councillor after winning a by-election in 2015 and was later appointed as the chief whip of TMC councillors after winning again in the 2021 municipal elections.
He is accused of being involved in vandalism against several BJP workers’ homes following the 2021 assembly elections. BJP leaders claim that Dasgupta and several other TMC leaders were involved in the post-election violence. Additionally, he faces allegations of taking bribes in exchange for facilitating building permits for local residents.
In another case, former TMC MLA Sujoy Hazra from the Medinipur assembly constituency was arrested by the police on Saturday night. According to the police, he was apprehended at a railway station in the district while allegedly attempting to flee.
Police stated that Sujoy Hazra had been on the run since May 4 and multiple complaints have been filed against him regarding land grabbing, extortion, and other issues. District Superintendent of Police Papiya Sultana mentioned that the police had been monitoring Hazra’s activities for some time as he had been hiding. He was called to the Salboni police station for questioning and was later arrested at the Kharagpur railway station. The investigation is ongoing.
Authorities have confirmed that further investigations are underway in both cases.
Deependra Singh Chundawat is a Senior Sub-Editor at Udaipur Kiran, specializing in a wide range of technology topics including mobile phones, applications, gaming, PCs, and wearables. Along with covering the latest tech news, he also creates engaging web stories. Passionate about emerging technologies, he stays up to date with the newest trends and enjoys reading and writing about the latest mobile launches and digital innovations.
