Judicial officers' gherao: NIA arrests Congress leaders, releases party nominee after questioning

Kolkata: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested two Congress leaders over the gherao of judicial officers by locals protesting deletion of names in the SIR in West Bengal's Malda district, and released the party's Mothabari candidate after a night-long questioning, an official said.

He said the two arrested leaders were Asif Sheikh and Shahadat Hossain, identified as Congress nominee Sayem Chowdhury's associates.

All three were questioned separately late into Sunday night.


"They had been taken into custody after an overnight interrogation at the NIA camp in Farakka township. Congress candidate Sayem Chowdhury was allowed to leave after questioning this morning," the officer said.

"Sayem Chowdhury's mobile phone was seized, and call records and messages are being examined," he said, adding that the Congress leader could further be questioned.

After returning from the NIA office, Chowdhury released a video message on social media alleging that he was being falsely implicated in the case and claimed that the ruling Trinamool Congress was behind the attempt.

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Earlier on Sunday, NIA officials picked up Chowdhury from the Alinagar area in connection with the April 1 incident at Mothabari, where judicial officers were confined inside a BDO office during a law-and-order situation.

In the same case, the NIA had earlier arrested a local ISF worker, Golam Rabbani, from Pratappur village in Mothabari. He was the first arrest in the case by the central agency.

Before that, West Bengal CID arrested ISF candidate Maulana Shahjahan Ali Qadri, and a key accused, MIM leader Mofakkerul Islam, from the Bagdogra airport.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week registered 12 cases to probe into the gherao of judicial officers who were deputed for work relating to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal's Malda. The move came following a directive from the Supreme Court.

The apex court on April 6 ordered the NIA to take over cases related to the gherao of seven judicial officers in Malda, observing that the bureaucracy's credibility was being lowered and politics was being injected into the West Bengal secretariat and government offices.