Kolkata, April 2 Police arrested at least 17 people on Thursday, including a poll candidate, for their alleged involvement in the gherao of seven judicial officials in Malda district, West Bengal, over the deletion of names from the electoral rolls, a senior officer said.
Maulana Shahjahan Ali, a candidate for the Indian Secular Front (ISF), and 16 others were arrested and produced before a district court, he said, adding that they were remanded in police custody for 10 days.
"These people were involved in the incident that took place last night in Malda. We have concrete evidence. They will be questioned," the policeman said.
The arrests followed an incident on Wednesday at the Kaliachak II block office, under the Mothabari Assembly constituency, where seven judicial officials, involved in voter list-related work, were allegedly confined for over seven-and-a-half hours by a group of protesters at a BDO office.
Three of the officials were women.
After his arrest, Ali denied the charges and claimed he was being framed due to his political affiliation.
"I have been falsely implicated because I am an ISF candidate," he told reporters while being produced in court.
He also claimed he was not present at the site during the incident.
"I had gone to attend a religious gathering and was returning home when I was arrested. There is a conspiracy against me," he said.
Police are investigating the incident and have not ruled out further arrests.
