Police on Friday arrested Zakir Sheikh, 62, a Trinamool Congress leader and the prime accused in the recent murder of a party worker at Jadupur in Malda district, soon after DGP Rajeev Kumar reached the district.

On January 14, alleged followers of Zakir had fired at Bakul Sheikh, a panchayat-level president of the TMC, and his associates. One of them was shot and bludgeoned to death on the spot. Bakul and his brother escaped with injuries.

The attack occurred at Jadupur under the jurisdiction of Kaliachak police station.

Reacting to Zakir’s arrest, a senior TMC functionary in Kaliachak said: “It has been proved that he had planned the attack on Bakul Sheikh and some others. Such attacks and murders because of infighting are tarnishing the party’s image in the district.”

Kumar had reached Siliguri on Thursday after an undertrial had fired at two policemen in the neighbouring North Dinajpur district and fled. On Friday, he visited a couple of police establishments in Kaliachak.

The DGP also met Chaitali Sarkar, a Trinamool councillor of Englishbazar municipality and the wife of TMC leader and councillor Dulal Sarkar. On January 2, contract killers gunned down Dulal at Jhaljhalia in Malda town.

Police initiated a probe and arrested Narendranath Tiwari, the TMC president of the Englishbazar town block committee, and some others.

After Sarkar’s murder, chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her strong discontent with the role of
the police.

Kumar, sources said, held meetings with senior police officers in Malda and enquired about the progress of the investigation into the two murders.

The additional director general of police (law and order), Javed Samim; the IGP (NB), Rajesh Kumar Yadav; and Pradeep Kumar Yadav, the superintendent of police of Malda, were present at the meeting.

The DGP, however, was brief while talking to the media. “The district police have been probing the murder cases. They are making progress in their investigations. The rest of the details will be given by the SP,” said Rajeev.

After the meeting, he went to Kaliachak, which is around 20km from the district headquarters. He visited the office of the subdivisional police officer (SDPO) and the Kaliachak police station.

Kumar also met Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, a senior Trinamool leader and the chairman of Englishbazar municipality.

After Sarkar’s murder, Chaitali, his wife, had said that though the police were probing in the right direction, there might be some more “big shots” who had orchestrated the attack on her husband.

After meeting the DGP on Friday, Chaitali didn’t speak to the media. Avoiding all questions from the media, she got into her car and left.

Choudhury, the civic body chief, who met the DGP, was equally brief in his remarks. “We spoke on traffic issues and how surveillance can be augmented across the town through the installation of more CCTV cameras,” he said.