A former chairman of Cooch Behar municipality, who had joined the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls, tendered his resignation on Friday to protest the arrest of Bengal ministers by the CBI during the pandemic.

A Trinamul Congress turncoat, Bhushan Singh, said: “I am leaving the BJP to protest the arrest of Trinamul ministers. At the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is irrational to arrest the mayor of a city. It was my mistake to join the saffron camp.”

The CBI has arrested two Bengal ministers, Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, MLA Madan Mitra and former mayor Sovan Chatterjee, in a bribery case. Turncoats from Trinamul to the BJP, also charged in the case, have not yet been arrested.

Sovan had quit the BJP in March this year.

Hakim is in charge of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation as its administrator.

A BJP worker, Rupam Sarkar, was arrested with a cache of bows, arrows, swords and other sharp weapons in the district on Thursday night.

Police held Sarkar following a complaint lodged by Subal Mandal, a Trinamul supporter.