A court here on Sunday sent a Trinamul Congress worker, who had been arrested with a country-made pistol from near the Domkal BDO office on Saturday, to judicial remand for a day as police didn't seek his custody for interrogation.
State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Bashir Mollah's one-day judicial remand proved that the police were in cahoots with Trinamul.
“This is not new and it only proves that the police and Trinamul are one and the same. The law enforcers will answer to none but Trinamul leaders,” said the Behrampore MP.
Mollah was among hundreds of Trinamul workers who had assembled near the BDO office in an alleged attempt to prevent Congress and CPM candidates from filing nominations from the panchayat polls.
“Several Trinamul supporters are joining the Congress across Murshidabad district. The people are with us. So, even with the support of the police, Trinamul will lose in the polls,” Chowdhury added.
Mollah is the president of Trinamul’s Sarangpur unit. He was found with the gun tucked in his pants. The gun was snatched by the cops and he was arrested under provisions of the Arms Act.
The CPM, the BJP, and the Congress repeatedly allege that the Arms Act and the Narcotic-Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act have been misused by the state administration to frame their supporters.
However, the administration took a lenient approach in Mollah’s case, although he was intercepted by the police — on camera — with a gun tucked in his pants.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the incident further underscored the partisan attitude of the Bengal police. He took to Twitter to say that while the CID had prayed for 14-day police custody for “innocent” Kurmi leaders Rajesh Mahato, Sibaji Mahato and seven others, that approach was missing in Mollah’s case.
The Kurmi leaders had been arrested for allegedly attacking Trinamul national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s convoy and ransacking minister Birbaha Hansda’s car.
“I hope that the honourable high court will take cognisance of the duality practiced by the police and public prosecutors at the lower courts,” posted the BJP’s Adhikari.
Defending his role in the chief judicial magistrate's court, additional public prosecutor Bagbul Islam said it was being said that he was not present before the judge, but that was untrue.
“Whether the police will pray for an accused person's custody is their decision," he said.
The district’s additional police, chief Asim Khan, said he would look into the matter, but if the investigating officer thought his probe was complete, he might not seek custody.
Trinamul’s Murshidabad unit's acting chairman and MLA Apurba Sarkar rubbished the claims of the Opposition.
“Our party has nothing to do with this,” he said.
Chowdhury visited the residence of the deceased Fulchand Sheikh in Khargram.
Sheikh, a Congress supporter, was murdered allegedly by armed Trinamul supporters on Friday. Chowdhury also led a protest rally in Khargram.