Kolkata, Apr 3 (PTI) A former AIMIM candidate was arrested on Friday over the gherao of the seven judicial officers in Malda district, adding a fresh political twist to the case as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the Asaduddin Owasi-led party, the BJP, and the ISF for "engineering" the unrest.
An NIA team visited Mothabari and Kaliachak police stations in Malda to probe the Wednesday incident. The federal anti-terror probe agency has been tasked by the Election Commission to investigate the matter, following a directive from the Supreme Court.
Advocate Mofakkarul Islam, described by the police as the "mastermind" behind Wednesday's blockade and gherao in Malda's Kaliachak area, was arrested at Bagdogra airport while allegedly trying to board a flight to Bengaluru.
"He is the mastermind of the Kaliachak incident in which seven judicial officers were gheraoed inside a block office for several hours. He was trying to board a flight to flee," a senior police officer said. Along with him, another person, Akramul Bagani, was arrested. Police said Bagani had reached Bagdogra from Alipurduar on a motorcycle, and his role was being investigated.
ADG (North Bengal) K Jayaraman said three cases had been lodged against Mofakkarul for allegedly instigating locals through speeches at different protest sites.
"We started tracking Mofakkarul Islam after the incident, and with the help of the CID and Siliguri Police, nabbed him and his associate from Bagdogra airport," Jayaraman said, adding that 19 cases have been registered in connection with the Malda violence and 35 people arrested, including an ISF candidate.
"Despite the NIA taking over the probe, the West Bengal Police will continue its investigation to determine whether the incident was pre-planned and if more people were involved," he said.
Police said Mofakkarul, a resident of Itahar who now lives in Kolkata, had posted a cryptic message on social media before his arrest.
In a Facebook Live video before being taken away, Mofakkarul claimed he had only joined a protest against the deletion of names from the voters' list. "I have been arrested at Bagdogra airport because I stood with the voters whose names had been deleted," he said.
As he was being taken to Malda, he remained defiant. "This movement will continue till the names are restored," he told reporters.
The arrest came barely 24 hours after the Supreme Court sharply criticised the West Bengal administration over the confinement of the judicial officers engaged in the Special Intensive Revision exercise and directed that the incident be investigated by an agency like the NIA or CBI.
The arrest has also opened a political faultline in the middle of the heated assembly election campaign.
Addressing a rally at Harirampur in Dakshin Dinajpur district, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "borrowed" Mofakkarul from AIMIM and used him to foment trouble.
"The ISF is with them; the Congress and the BJP had also instigated people," the Trinamool Congress supremo alleged. The BJP has rejected the charge.
Stressing that the state machinery had acted swiftly, she said, "The mastermind has been arrested by the CID. This organisation is still under my control, not under the Election Commission."
At another rally in Gazole, Banerjee took an indirect swipe at AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.
Without naming the Lok Sabha MP, she referred to him as the "Hyderabad cuckoo of the BJP" and accused him of engineering the protests in Malda.
Owaisi had addressed a rally in neighbouring Murshidabad district on Wednesday, the same day tension escalated in Malda.
Mofakkarul had joined AIMIM before the 2021 assembly elections and contested from Itahar. He had secured only 831 votes.
Local sources said that as protests erupted in Mothabari and Sujapur over the alleged deletion of names from the electoral rolls, some local AIMIM leaders brought Mofakkarul to the forefront.
Around 12.30 am on Thursday, nearly 16 hours after the agitation began, Mofakkarul was seen standing atop a vehicle near Sujapur Hospital crossing with a hand microphone, addressing protesters and warning the administration. Soon afterwards, the blockade on National Highway-12 was lifted.
The AIMIM's Malda district president, Matiur Rahman, however, sought to distance the party from the violence. "We came to know that the lawyer was present there. But we do not believe in violence," he said.
The BJP rejected the TMC's allegation that AIMIM and ISF were acting as its "B-team" and "C-team". "The BJP has no such team. TMC is trying to hide its own failures by blaming others," BJP MP Khagen Murmu said.
The unrest began on Wednesday morning when residents of Mothabari, Sujapur and adjoining areas blocked NH-12 to protest against the alleged deletion of names from the electoral rolls during the SIR exercise. As the agitation spread, seven judicial officers engaged in the revision process were confined inside the Kaliachak-II block office from around 4 pm till nearly midnight. They could be rescued only after the police dispersed the crowd.
On Friday morning, NIA IG Sonia Singh arrived in Kolkata before proceeding to Malda. A 24-member NIA team led by a DIG-rank officer visited Mothabari and Kaliachak police stations, examined the site of the blockade and collected samples from the area where protesters allegedly hurled bricks at vehicles.
Officials said the agency was trying to ascertain whether the violence was spontaneous or part of a pre-planned conspiracy to disrupt the election process.