Police arrest TMC vice-president for illegally occupying house, KMC councillors for extortion

Kolkata: Two KMC councillors from Trinamool and the party’s state vice-president and spokesperson were arrested from two different parts of the city on Wednesday.While Ward 106 councillor Arijit Das Thakur alias Rana was arrested by cops from the Garfa PS early on Wednesday in connection with extortion cases, Trinamool state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar, also the spokesperson for the party, was rounded up by Bidhannagar cop later in the day for allegedly molesting an elderly woman and illegally taking over her Salt Lake house for over a decade. Mahesh Kumar Sharma, the KMC councillor of Ward 42, was arrested from his Cotton Street home in Posta around 9 pm on charges of extortion, criminal conspiracy and assaulting public servant in a one-year-old case, lodged at Burrabazar PS.Wednesday’s arrests marked the fourth KMC councillors arrest in the past 10 days.Thakur is booked on charges of extortion, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint and criminal conspiracy, following two separate complaints. The complainants alleged Thakur extorted more than Rs 14 lakh from multiple developers to grant sanction to building plans. Following a preliminary inquiry that reportedly found substance in the allegations, he was taken into custody after a prolonged interrogation.While Thakur was being taken to court from the Garfa Police Station, a crowd pelted him with stones and eggs, and a large police team had to form a security ring around him to safely escort him out.In the afternoon, cops from the Bidhannagar Police rounded up Majumdar from the very Salt Lake house, where he had allegedly been living illegally, amid jeers of “chor chor (thief)” from residents of the area.The complainant, an elderly woman, alleged that the BJP-turned-Trinamool functionary had been illegally occupying her property since 2012. She said she rented her property to Majumdar. Though the tenancy agreement expired back in 2015, he continued to live there illegally and did not even pay any rent.The house owner mentioned in her complaint that Majumdar used his political influence to retain possession of the property and that she was subjected to intimidation and threats when she attempted to reclaim her house. Police said once, the woman visited the house to “forcibly take possession of the house” from Majumdar, who pushed and hit her. She then lodged a complaint at the Bidhannagar North PS. The woman told reporters she had tried to get the house back but Majumdar always used his political influence, first when he was with the BJP and then, with the Trinamool, to occupy the property.