Kolkata: Congress’s Nandigram by-election candidate Milan Pradhan, arrested for his alleged involvement in at least four cases related to rioting, murder and criminal intimidation that were filed during the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement, will be produced before a court Saturday, police said.
The party would hold a rally in Kolkata during the day in protest against Pradhan’s arrest.
Pradhan was arrested from a hotel in Chandipur in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district along with another party leader, Subhasish Bhattacharya, Friday evening.
Bhattacharya was arrested for allegedly preventing the police from apprehending Pradhan.
Pradhan was arrested in connection with four cases registered in 2007… Those cases are related to rioting, murder and criminal intimidation, the officer told PTI.
The cases include three registered at Nandigram police station and one at Khejuri police station. Those were registered under sections of the IPC and the Arms Act. He will be produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Haldia, today, he said.
The West Bengal Police Saturday said Pradhan was absconding and that he was arrested in connection with four long-pending non-bailable warrants.
The concerned cases against the arrested person involve serious offences including murder, attempt to murder, abduction with intent to murder, causing disappearance of evidence, house trespass, rioting with arms and deadly weapons. Some of the cases also invoke provisions of the Arms Act, the state police said in a statement.
Pradhan had been absconding since 2007 and had been chargesheeted as an absconder in those cases. Repeated attempts to execute the warrants had allegedly failed in the past, with non-execution reports being submitted to the courts from time to time, it said.
The arrest was made during a special drive to execute long-pending non-bailable warrants, the police said.
Such execution is a standing instruction from the Election Commission of India during elections and by-elections. The arrest of Pradhan is a lawful step toward complying with this instruction during the course of an ongoing special drive, it elaborated.
Pradhan was arrested hours after former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced her party’s support for the Congress in the October 6 Nandigram bypoll, after her candidate withdrew from the contest.
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State Congress president Subhankar Sarkar, after Pradhan’s arrest, said the party had no idea why he was arrested and where he was kept.
We got to know that he had been held for a murder case but we have no clear idea about it. Milan was among those leaders who were at the forefront of the Nandigram movement and he was booked under several cases. But, why was he arrested today Sarkar had said Friday evening.
The Congress leader claimed that when the party approached a senior official of the Election Commission, even he could not provide details on Pradhan’s arrest.
The police have not given any reason for Pradhan’s arrest. This is quite surprising. When the model code of conduct is in force and the administration of that particular seat (Nandigram) is under the EC, how can the police arrest a candidate Sarkar said.
Sarkar also hit out at Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, asserting that police were made to arrest Pradhan as the BJP was afraid of losing the polls.
Pradhan is a popular candidate in Nandigram, and the BJP is afraid of losing the polls. That is the reason he was arrested. If the police needed to question him, they could have summoned him, Sarkar said.
The Congress leader also said it was surprising that even after winning the assembly elections with such a big mandate, the BJP was using the EC to win a bypoll.
It shows how much the BJP has lost relevance within such a short time span, he added.
