Kolkata, April 3 – With the National Investigation Agency (NIA) starting an investigation into the case of harassment of judicial adjudication officers at Kaliachak in West Bengal's Malda on the night of April 1, the total number of arrests made by the state police by Friday afternoon has increased to 33.
Confirming the number of arrests, Additional Director General (North Bengal), K. Jayaraman, told media persons that the police have registered a total of 19 cases, both in the matter of the harassment of the judicial adjudication officers as well as illegal road blockades in various areas at Kaliachak that started on Wednesday and continued to Thursday.
Of the 33 arrests, he said the main one is the mastermind, Mofakkarul Islam, who is a lawyer by profession and the leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), who was arrested in the morning at Bagdogra airport in the Darjeeling district while trying to escape from the state.
"He was the main person who had been inciting the crowd at Kaliachak on Wednesday. He was arrested at Bagdogra Airport along with his close associate, Akramul Bagani. They had plans to escape to Bengaluru. Since the NIA has taken charge of the investigation, if they desire, Islam will be handed over to them," he said.
He also confirmed that in the Kaliachak incident, three cases have been registered against Islam. "A detailed investigation is on to track whether he had been associated with any other mischief elsewhere, be it in Malda district or anywhere. Strong action, as per legal provisions, will be taken against him. He will not be spared," Jayaraman added.
Speaking on the occasion, he also admitted that there was a delay in timely action against the crowd that had kept the judicial adjudication officers hostage for long hours. "We have enough arrangements. But since there were several women and even children among them, we had to approach cautiously. Since the matter has reached the level of the Supreme Court, I will not offer any further comment on the matter," he said.
On Wednesday, seven judicial officers, including three women, were held hostage inside a block office at Kaliachak in Malda district by a group of voters whose names had been deleted during the process of judicial adjudication under the "logical discrepancy" category.
At around 1 a.m. on Thursday, a large police contingent led by senior district officials reached the spot, dispersed the protesters, rescued the judicial officers, and escorted them to a safe location. They had been gheraoed for around nine hours.
There were also reports that, even while being shifted to a safe location after their rescue, an attempt was made to attack the convoy.