Under pressure from the Election Commission, the West Bengal Police on Friday arrested all the four Trinamool Congress activists, including State Minister Sabitri Mitra’s son-in-law Samadip Sarkar, alias Tinku, for allegedly thrashing poll officials in Malda’s Manikchak area earlier this week.
The Malda district administration had lodged two FIRs at the Manikchak police station on Thursday after being directed by the EC to take immediate action against those who attacked the poll officials.
Besides Samadip, the three other accused were identified as Motiur Rehman, Muklesur Rehman and Jamal Khan. Samadip and Motiur were arrested from Malda town’s Rathbari area and the two others from Rabindra Avenue, Malda SP Rupesh Kumar said.
Two other persons were also arrested on Thursday though they were not mentioned in the FIRs, the SP said. They were produced on Friday in the CJM’s court which remanded them in two-day police custody. A four-member team of EC personnel were videotaping a motorcycle rally of Trinamool Congress workers when two of them were thrashed by the party activists prompting the poll body to direct the district administration to take stern action. Motorbike rallies are banned under the EC rules.
On Friday morning, the EC directed the West Bengal Police chief to arrest all the persons named in the FIR and send compliance report by 5 pm on the same day.
The Commission has also directed the DGP to arrest persons who had organised the bike rally in the State on Thursday in violation of rules, EC officials said.
Following receipt of reports relating to the assault on poll panel officials, the Commission had met in New Delhi and issued directions to Malda District Magistrate to take stern action against the offenders.
In a recent meeting attended by Deputy EC Vinod Zutshi, poll officials from West Bengal, had expressed apprehension of violence during the conduct of the poll in the State. The EC had taken a serious note of their complaints and the issue had also come up during a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and other top EC officials with the State authorities in Kolkata last week.