KOLKATA: Suspended Trinamool Congress worker from Ward 121 in Behala – Somnath Banerjee alias Baban — was nabbed from rural Howrah’s Joypur (near Nischintapur) on Sunday morning by a joint team from the Anti Rowdy Section of detective department and Behala Police.
Somnath had managed to flee the city five days ago on the night of April 12 after allegedly leading his supporters to fire at and assault locals and vandalize a Behala neighbourhood over who gets to control the local Charak Mela at Behala’s Charaktala. At least five persons were injured in the incident — a brother-sister duo (both associated with Trinamool) was stated to be serious.
The arrest is significant as six of his other associates have been nabbed, too, during the raid. A vehicle he used to flee from police and a mobile phone he was using have also been seized. Total number of arrests in this case is now 23. This includes 19 persons considered close to Baban, said a source.
The arrests follow strict orders issued by CM Mamata Banerjee where she asked that the probe should be impartial and that all those involved in the incident be arrested. Behala East MLA Ratna Chatterjee had asked the kin of Somnath to ask him to surrender after they had rushed to her residence hours after the incident and claimed his innocence. Somnath was suspended from Trinamool the same day. Commissioner of police, Vineet Goyal, had promised “quick arrest” even on Saturday after questions were raised on the alleged “delay” in the arrest.
“He kept changing his SIM card and his place of stay, never stopping at one place for more than a few hours. He had initially fled to Barasat and then proceeded towards Balasore. He stayed a day there before coming back to Kharagpur. After a few hours spent here, the accused put up at a hotel in Digha before finally getting nabbed at a friend’s farmhouse in Howrah”," said police.
